NPP has no flag-bearer for 2016 yet

The incontrovertible fact in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is that we do not as yet have a flag-bearer for election 2016. What this means is that, the position of Flagbearer of NPP is vacant and any eligible member of the NPP who meets the requirement can, when the vacancy is advertised later next year, express overt or covert interest to fill that position.

There is however a strange happening in the party. Some personality cult worshipers are behaving as if the presidential candidate position of the NPP for 2016 is reserved for the 2012 candidate in the person of Nana Addo.

I will not have any problem and will indeed campaign vigorously for Nana Addo if the party goes to congress and decide that he should be the one we should present for election 2016.

What supporters of Nana Addo should understand is that they cannot force anybody to like the idea of Nana Addo leading the party to election 2016 through insults.

Some supporters of Nana Addo are even threatening persons they perceive to be against the candidature of Nana Addo for 2016 as enemies and have openly warned such persons that if Nana becomes President of Ghana they will not get political appointments. This is nonsense and must stop!

What the NPP needs desperately is power and not insults cum threats. For instance, what I want is to see NPP in government to unveil the very good policies that the party has that can help Ghanaians. To some of us, an NPP victory in 2016 is the best thing that can happen to Ghana.

There is no way that NPP can ever see the FlagStaff House if we are divided and throwing insults at one another. We have to know this and begin to change our irresponsible behaviour at times against persons we think are not expressing views we want to hear.

The oth er time I was excessively disappointed that a former Presidential candidate of the NPP, Dr Konadu Apraku, was vilified and in some instances insulted for suggesting that the NPP needed a very competent person and someone who can attract floating votes for the NPP to lead it into election 2016. The attacks on him to me were needless. It was dishonesty of the highest order for some fanatics in the NPP to translate what Dr Apraku said to mean that he was saying Nana Addo was incompetent to lead the NPP into election 2016.

This was clearly irritating because the NPP, as of the time you are reading this write up, has no candidate for election 2016. So on what basis should anyone conclude that Dr Apraku was referring to Nana Addo even when his name was not mentioned?

In any case, hasn’t Dr Apraku the right just like Nana Addo to lead the NPP any time? Nana Addo must watch the false prophets pretending to be dying for him. They are the very people who are driving several admirers of his away from him. This people must be cautioned to be tolerant of divergent views.

For instance if my position is that Nana Addo should not be presented for election 2016 because he has not been able to secure victory for the NPP since 2008, I should be convinced on why he should be our candidate but not to be insulted as a traitor, enemy of Nana Addo etc. This is churlish and must stop at once if we are to go into election 2016 as a united front and get all hands on deck.

I joined the NPP in 1992 when I was a Teacher Trainee at the Bagabaga Teacher Training College in Tamale because I was told it was the only party that encourages freedom of expression of one’s views and also highly tolerant.

I am afraid these attractive attributes of the NPP are being abused by certain characters who want to please their lords. The NPP has always pride itself of practicing competitive internal democracy. Let us continue with this envious record and not begin working towards dictatorial tendencies in the party. We don’t need a “Supreme Leader” in NPP.

We got to fight for political power by all means in 2016 together. Our unity should be supreme not how much we can denigrate and insult each other because we differ in opinions.

A word to the wise.........

Akilu Sayibu

Email: Akilu.Sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk