Is the NPP so cheap and weak?

By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor

Monday, November 9, 2015

Folks, if the allegation against Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong is true that they are NDC moles in the NPP, we should congratulate the NDC for being on task to walk over its arch rival. But is that allegation really true? And where is the evidence to support it? If no evidence exists, why is it being played as the trump-card to remove Afoko and Agyepong from office?

Obiri Boahen, Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, has warned that “NDC moles” in the NPP will be identified, exposed, and flushed out. The belief is that the NPP isn’t making much progress because of such moles. My friends, do you see how the NPP does its rogue and book politics to its own disadvantage?

We are bent on dissecting the NPP to know why it is what it is and why it is still fixated on using anachronistic methods to no avail in contemporary Ghanaian politics. We note upfront that such anachronistic methods as used by its forebears in the pre-independence era fetched them nothing but public scorn, which explains why the Great Osagyefo’s CPP took the shine out of them at the 1951 and 1954 general elections and successfully prevailed over the British colonial establishment to grant Ghana what it needed to come into its own.

We note further the back-stabbing machinations of the anti-Nkrumah elements that resulted in their being isolated for punitive action and why the Preventive Detention Act was imperative to clamp down on their anti-Ghana activities. Don’t forget their bomb-throwing escapades, scare-mongering campaigns, and selective sabotage of public institutions and installations in pursuit of their narrow political agenda. Nkrumah contained them till they sought external support from the US’s Central Intelligence Agency to confirm their notoriety in the 24th February 1966 coup d’état against him. Ghana has not been the same ever since.

That aspect of Ghana’s history must not be lost on us, especially as we reflect on current goings-on. It explains why the NPP isn’t giving the Mahama-led administration the peace of mind it needs to administer Ghana’s affairs. It underscores the negative politics being done by the Akufo-Addo-led NPP; and that kind of politics will fail to woo voters. And when it does, it leaves the NPP with nothing but the selfsame anachronistic methods to find fault where there is none, to shift blame when it suits it, and to eat up its own children when it suits its leaders.

Of all the allegations used to oust Paul Afoko from office, none confirms the NPP’s paranoia more than that which portrays him as “an NDC mole” planted by the Mahama-led administration to use his office for the NDC’s good. We have heard so much that Afoko is being paid by the NDC to destroy the NPP and frustrate its Akufo-Addo’s ambition to become Ghana’s President “at all costs”. This allegation has gained currency among the rank and file of the party’s buffs; and they are trumpeting it all over the place. They have even gone further to splash it on Kwabena Agyepong, the party’s General Secretary too. We will do a brief analysis of this allegation for all that it is.

We begin with Afoko. For all that he has been all these years in party politics, Afoko is known for nothing other than his surefooted support for the NPP. He has his interests and is perceived as a staunch supporter of Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, one of those seeking the topmost position to lead the NPP. We know why he was assaulted at the NPP national delegates conference preceding Election 2008 and what happened thereafter until he strongly resurfaced to win the hearts of the party’s delegates to be elected as the National Chair.

We know further why he chose to use his powers to revamp the NPP and why he stepped on toes to push himself to the brink of disaster. In all that has happened to make him the bull’s eye for the archers in the Akufo-Addo-led NPP, we know that he sought to do nothing but ensure transparency in the management of the party’s affairs, especially its finances. And no political party can survive if its finances are not secured. That was why he concentrated on aspects that put him on a collision course with the National Treasurer and Freddie Blay who had done shady deeds (the secret accounts with Ecobank, for instance). We note that Afoko simply sought to streamline matters but ended up being seen as an enemy within to be squashed. And what to do but frame him up as violating the NPP’s laid-down administrative procedures?

Once constructed as such, what else to do but to paint him black and destroy? The strategies for such a venture aren’t far-fetched. Afoko saw through it all and dug in, refusing to be sucked into the vortex. He knew why he won’t call meetings to empower his detractors, and he knew why as the National Chair he won’t sit down to be cajoled. It was not as if his not convening meetings of the NPP’s NEC crippled the party or prevented its followers from reaching out to the public. As the National Chair, he knew what his purview was and stayed on track. Only his detractors saw things differently. Their allegations that he disrespected the party’s elders or that he was arrogant and incompetent couldn’t do the intended damage unless fleshed out with something more sinister and frightening to the NPP pack.

That was why a new allegation was coined and added to the complexion. He was framed up as a mole planted by the NDC to destroy the NPP. No one could explain what his being a mole was nor could any of his detractors tell us where, when and how he got recruited as an NDC mole tasked to destroy the NPP from within. None of his detractors could provide any shred of evidence on that allegation; but it has been used as the most potent weapon of calumniation to under-value and destroy him.

Questions left hanging need answers. At what point in his service to the NPP did Afoko become a mole for the NDC? Before he was elected as the National Chair, just after his elevation, or when at all? Who, among his detractors, will be bold enough to tell us the truth of Afoko’s being a mole to do the NDC’s bidding?

Folks, I am amazed that the NPP leaders who are bent on damaging Afoko cannot rise above pettiness. If they are persuaded that Afoko is anti-Akufo-Addo, getting rid of him to serve their purposes should have been done in a move civilized manner than what has happened so far. I know it for a fact that their targeting Afoko has a lot more to it than they are telling us. And it won’t redound to their own good.

As we can see from the repercussions, Afoko has much constituency in the NPP. Framing him up as an NDC mole may be suitable for only “emotional” purposes but not for the political capital that the NPP and its Akufo-Addo need to be in power at Election 2016. Truth be told, what has happened so far will have a negative sequel to draw back the NPP’s electioneering campaign moves. Let it be said now that Akufo-Addo and his followers have succeeded in slighting Afoko only to set the stage for more internal wrangling that will tear the party apart.

We have heard from Sammy Crabbe and the four constituency chairmen in the Ashanti Region who have been suspended for showing open support for Afoko. There is also talk of the Odododiodoo constituency chairman in Accra.

What those suspending such party supporters don’t know is that there are thousands more who are aggrieved and will do all they can for their impact to be felt now or later. Once such disaffected people know what to do and how to do it, they will harm the NPP’s interests. And they will have nothing to lose after all because they are far removed from the path of the gravy train. They know that whether their party is in power or not, they don’t benefit materially. They may enjoy only the bragging rights ("My party is in power"). All that they do is to exercise their democratic right of voting. Thereafter, anything goes. Only those who know how to walk the corridors of power benefit. So, why bother at all? But their vote counts!!

Folks, we haven’t left out Kwabena Agyepong. He is also being accused of being an NDC mole. How infuriating! If anybody should be accused as such, it won’t be Agyepong, who is known all over as an avowed opponent of anything NDC. Where is the evidence to prove that he has turned coat? Even Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby who is saying that he doesn’t believe in anything like Danquah-Busia ideology has his peace of mind after being suspended by the NPP’s Sanhedrin. He is saying it as it should be said.

What amazes me all the more is that all those alleging that Afoko and Agyepong are NDC moles haven’t provided any evidence to support their accusation. All they are doing is bandying about that allegation and insisting that it be accepted as the truth inviolate. This is how anachronism works in the NPP’s kind of politics. And it is as foundational as it is deceptive and counter-productive.

For now, those chasing Afoko and Agyepong out will continue to flex muscles; but when the day of reckoning comes, they will realize their stupidity. Then, let them take on the Establishment to blame for their political woes. Only then will they know that contemporary Ghanaian politics demands more than their anachronistic tactics toward winning general elections. If the NDC can weaken the NPP by recruiting its staunch adherents as moles, let it go ahead to do so. After all, doesn’t one good turn deserve another?

I shall return…

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