How Chief Biney dashed his political future for love

Deputy National Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Chief Halmilton Biney tied the knot with beautiful Ms Afua Akoto, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC) on Wednesday, February 12, 2020. Ms Afua Akoto is also a New Patriotic Party (NPP) Deputy Communications Officer.

Many are those who say it is good omen for the current poisoned partisan political environment of Ghana such that it will motivate the grassroots of the two main rival parties (NPP and NDC). Others however say the coming together of the duo is suicidal for both parties since information safeguard will be badly affected.

Currently, there is murmuring and whispering within both the NDC and NPP’s rank and file about how members should be careful with the sharing of information with the duo.

Many have even associated the poor attendance to their wedding ceremony by party stalwarts to the lack of trust and interest by party leaders in their union as husband and wife. Party chairmen and secretaries as well as other leaders were conspicuously missing at the wedding despite the stature of the newly wedded couple who hold no mean positions in their respective parties.

Two of my friends associated with the NDC party, former flagbearer attemptee Stephen Atubiga and former FONKA activist Denis Sacut Amenga-Etego (a.k.a Commandante Akaabitono) have disagreed on their facebook walls on the marriage of the two.

While Mr. Atubiga believes Chief Biney has made a bad move and has a lot to loose in an election year by marrying Afua and therefore may even suffer non-ejaculation at times especially when he has to speak to his bosses on party matters while in bed with his better half, Mr. Amenga-etego holds the view that the agenda for party meetings vary at the party level and the mere fact that Chief Biney is Deputy National Organizer does not entitle him the right to sit in some key strategic meetings of his party.

Sacut believes Mr. Biney can function in his position without any hindrance and those who think like Mr. Atubiga may definitely be ignorant of party work.

In my interaction with some students and practitioners of politics, two strong schools of thought emerged. As a Deputy National Organizer, a lot of party information and stuff are in Chief Biney's custody and his sweetheart cannot turn a blind eye to it.

She could disclose same or part to her party (the NPP). The question of how the two will discuss party issues on phone and with party members who may visit their home also raises questions.

Many of them believe that leadership of the two parties will unwittingly keep some top secrets from the two in order that they may not disclose to one another in their comfort time.

Mr. Atubiga on radio yesterday in the afternoon believed that with the kind of woman that Chief Biney has married he could sleep over the job without regret. He wants Chief Biney to resign as a national executive member to concentrate on his marital affairs.

In an era of secret recordings of both audio and video including having access to a whole National Security Minister, how will embattled Chairman Ofosu Ampofo and Chief General Mosquito disclose party secrets in the presence of Chief Biney anymore? Many NDC members have marked Chief Biney down for National Organizer position after Joshua Akamba because of the good works he has done over the years but are currently jittery because of this news that has emmerged.

In January 2019, the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia admonished his party women not to marry NPP men, instead he urged them to marry NDC men so that they will produce NDC children.

Only yesterday, the Ahafo Regional NPP Chairman Kwame Baffoe (a.k.a. Abronye DC) impugned that some NDC women were “thieves” a reason he said Chief Biney refused to marry from his own party.

This has caused tough talking leader of the women's wing of the NDC Dr. Hanna Bissiw to ask Abronye to retract and apologize or face their wrath. Mr. Atubiga had earlier asked the NDC women to allow for internal mingling so that their men will not go anywhere to bring strange women.

These and others have endangered Chief Hamilton Biney’s chances of leading in his party in the very near future.

It will therefore take Chief Binney a whole lot of hard work to be able to rebuild such confidence his party members reposed in him to bring him up to the national office. His work will proof that he has not combined his family affairs with party activities or confirm same.

Some people have even cited former President, H.E. Jerry John Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings as an example of the problems a couple in different parties face.

They say ever since Nana Konadu parted ways with the NDC her husband has not spoken good about his party (the NDC) anymore, meaning it is difficult for a couple to function in different parties at the same time so therefore Chief Binney is heading to becoming a social commentator like his former boss Mr. Alottey Jacobs who is currently bitter with his party and many are worried over his public comments. Some have even suggested the party should dismiss him from being a member, a direction the larty has not given consideration publicly.

Another school of thought has projected that this is the best decision ever for the NPP and NDC which will help cure the political temperature, especially among the foot soldiers. If those at the top can get that close to the extent of marrying, how much less those at the grassroots who do no benefit so much from their parties directly like their leaders?

Expectations were high that on the wedding day, Mugabe Maase and Kennedy Agyepong would share a beer together. Party executives and leading members were expected also to grace the occasion to show the expected unity but unfortunately it didn’t so happen.

In the face of these happenings, my take will be that, the two Mr. and Mrs. Biney will have to sit down and talk outside inn about the future of their political careers and their marriage alike.

They will have to take a collective decision as to whether they should shun partisan politics or one should cross to the other party to ensure unity of purpose and weigh the future prospects of the two of them politically. If Chief Biney gets Afua to his side he can travel far himself through the leadership leather of his party.

As a communicator, if Afua branches to the NDC for her love and opens up she could enter the rank and file of that party just like the examples of NPP Chairman Freddie Blay and Frances Essiam who have made it by switching camps from their mother parties.

Chief Biney can also decide to move to his wife's party the NPP and sure with time will rise there after all the NPP is that tolerant such that it accepted Abu Ramadan and the father from the People's National Convention (PNC), Samuel Jinapor and Frances Esiam from the NDC and Freddie Blay who eventually became the Chairman of that party and Senior Journalist Kwaku Baako Jnr. from the Convention People's Party (CPP).

The duo can also choose to pull out from active partisan politics and mind their own business. Whichever way it will go, the choice is definitely for Mr. and Mrs. Biney to make and not me. I believe however that if they exhibit maturity and professionalism they can manage the situation but definitely not 2020. The truth however is that they both cannot shine immediately in their parties the manner in which they were known to be before last Wednesday.

A stay together and in active partisan politics will have dire consequences for them individually and their parties at large in the run up to elections 2020.

This union should not however be compared to that of the Jinapor's, the Ramadan's nor the Maafo's or the Ala Adjetey's among others. The difference between them is that, this union is supposed to see the two retire to bed together every night and confide in each other romantically. They are to get emotional sometimes and even loose their faculty of thinking straight and that is their conundrum.

Whichever way it ends my wish for the couple is God's guidance and protection and a blessed union for them. I wish them more babies, more sex life and romance, more happiness, more wealth and more health together.

Shalom.

Francis Atayure Abirigo is a Development Communications expert.