Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe must join NDC

The last few weeks have confirmed my long-held suspicions about the political stance of Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe. He has always been described as a founding and leading member of the New Patriotic Party. However, his actions, since the NPP lost the 2012 election, are a clear testament to the fact that he now feels very comfortable in the bosom of the John (Ibrahim) Mahama-led National Democratic Congress administration.

Ever since the NDC assumed the reins of office in 2009, particular, under the leadership of John Mahama, we have not heard the good doctor call on government to end 'dumsor dumsor'. Dr. Tamakloe's voice has remained inaudible as Ghanaians, all across the country, are calling on government to reduce fuel prices as a result of the global fall in crude oil prices. He has remained silent on the widespread stealing of public funds, escalating unemployment among young people, rising cost of living and the mismanagement of the Ghanaian economy in general, all of which are taking place and are of an unprecedented nature, under this Mahama government.

Of the many national issues plaguing this nation, Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe has no bothered, as a leading member of the NPP, to criticise the Mahama government and show solidarity with the concerns and suffering of the Ghanaian people.

It seems all Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe prefers to talk about is how Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP cannot win elections. His major preoccupation is to feed NDC communicators and the "rented press" with information on how to rip the NPP into shreds.

In modern society, the proverb "blood is thicker than water" is used to imply that family ties are always more important than the ties you make among friends. Why would Dr. Tamakloe bite the hands that feed him? His direct nephew happens to be Ibrahim Mahama, brother of President John Mahama. It is an open secret that Ibrahim Mahama runs the show in this NDC government, and it therefore comes as no surprise that 'Uncle Nyaho' cannot criticise the government run by his nephew Ibrahim. His bread is being buttered on a daily basis by his nephew, Ibrahim, so why would he talk about "dumsor dumsor", rising cost of living, widespread corruption, deliberate stealing of state funds by government? If these actions by Nyaho are not a clear indication of someone working against the interest of the party and by extension its victory in the 2016 election, then I don't know what it can be described as.

I urge all NPP members and the media to resist the urge to describe Dr. Tamakloe as a "leading member" of the NPP. His actions betray that claim. How can a so-called "leading member" worth his salt not be influential in the NPP? Nyaho Tamakloe cannot even win an election in the NPP, he has never won an internal election organised by the party and yet he believes he is the "Mighty Igor" who has the secrets to an NPP victory in 2016. When was the last time Dr. Tamakloe even attended an NPP meeting?

The story has it that, in 2009, Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe was heavily supported by Nana Akufo-Addo in his bid to become the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NPP. Despite several calls and pleas made by party faithful against the choice, Nana Akufo-Addo stuck by his decision and backed Nyaho Tamakloe all the way. Anyone who knows the inside-workings of the NPP would admit that the slightest semblance of an AKufo-Addo backing of any candidate in an NPP internal election can be equated to a "sure banker" victory. The other contestants in the race were George Isaac Amoo, Ayikoi Otoo, Emmanuel Adjei Boye and Ishmael Ashitey, and Nyaho Tamakloe was odds on to win.

However, what happened on 29th December, 2009, was a clear writing on the wall that Nyaho Tamakloe was a nobody in the NPP. NPP delegates have no regard for him, and believe he does not have what it takes to lead the NPP in the Greater Accra. Despite all the support he received from Akufo-Addo, Dr Nyaho Tamakloe placed a distant 3rd after receiving only 58 votes. The eventual winner, Ishmael Ashitey polled a whopping 245 votes.

I can only reiterate the call made by Ishmael Ashitey in May 2013, when Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe, characteristically made disparaging remarks about the NPP and its flagbearer in the 2012 election, Nana Akufo-Addo.

"For me nobody should take him (Nyaho Tamakloe) serious, he has never contributed anything to the party and I don't know who he can bring onboard the party, so I think that people must ignore and forget about him. Some of us don't trust him again, we don't believe he is a genuine NPP man."

So, my humble appeal to Uncle Nyaho is simple: "Join the NDC and leave the NPP and Nana Akufo-Addo in peace, I beg of you."

Albert Adamu

Tamale