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It is characteristically NPP. I am referring to the allegedly fractious and bitter rivalry raging between Mr. Paul Essien, the New Patriotic Party’s Member of Parliament for the Jomoro Constituency, in the Western Region, and Mr. Ernest Kofie, the party or government-appointed Municipal Chief Executive Officer of the same constituency, which has reportedly split the party in halves. But, perhaps, what is most significant to note here is that the Jomoro New Patriotic Party Constituency Executives appear to be on a collision course with President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, whom they fault for apparently refusing to remove the Municipal Chief Executive for reasons that are not clear to this writer, at least not from the contents of the news report on which this commentary is based.
What is clear, however, is that Messrs. Essien and Kofie are dead-set at loggerheads over what in literal Akan parlance may be characterized as “sitting on the hide of an antelope.” Mr. Essien may also be clearly seen to enjoy the greater support among the local party executives, although it remains unclear whether such remarkable executive support automatically translates into popular support. I have my own doubts, of course, but the fact also staunchly holds that since I am not on the proverbial Ground Zero, I am really in absolutely no credible position to firm up my personal misgivings about the same.
Whatever the details of this fracas may be, it goes without saying that until local executive operatives like Mr. Kofie get on the ballot and get democratically elected, as seems likely to be the case in the offing and, indeed, ought to have been the case since 1992, but for the regressively tactical stalling by the Ahwoi Brothers, in particular Ato and Kwamena Ahwoi, there will absolutely be no end to the nationwide incessant bickering between our democratically elected Members of Parliament and our government-appointed Chief Executive Officers. For now, however, the Western Regional Executives of the New Patriotic Party, acting in close consultation with the key operatives of the party’s Kokomlemle National Headquarters, may need to promptly step up to the plate to ensure that matters are constructively and amicably resolved long before it becomes too late.
What is painfully ironic here is the fact that the Jomoro Constituency is also the home turf of Mr. Freddie Blay, the National Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party. Mr. Blay once held the Jomoro Constituency’s parliamentary seat for quite a considerable while, but he did so at the time as a stalwart of the rump-Convention People’s Party (r-CPP). I guess what I am implying here is that playing Russian roulette in the traditional stronghold of the r-CPP and its ally, that is, the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), may not be the smartest thing to do. We are also told that as a result of the apparent non-compliance of party headquarters operatives, and even Jubilee House itself, the local executives of the party have reportedly barred any of the members of the Jomoro NPP Communications Team from promoting the party’s agenda, especially on issues pertaining to media promotion or advertising of the laudable performance and humongous achievements of the party at large but, in particular, the performance, image and reputation of President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Now, this is serious stuff that ought not to be allowed to recklessly play out in the media arena, with barely twelve months to head for the polls and for the renewal of the mandate of the electorate. Any bit of undesirable publicity or bad publicity could do more damage than the movers-and-shakers of the Jomoro Constituency’s New Patriotic Party may have anticipated.
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English Department, SUNY-Nassau
Garden City, New York
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
