Nana Addo is our Next President come 2013

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RE: IEA Speech by Nana Addo

By: Kwaku A. Danso

Friends,

I am on vacation in a nice place called Banff, Alberta, Canada, and I just completed reading the Speech at the IEA by Nana Akufo Addo, delivered on Tuesday August 21, 2012 and posted on GLU forum by Prof. Kwaku Asare, aka Kwaku Azar. Time does not allow me to go into too much detail but all jokes aside, I have to say that I am impressed. I am not a man easily impressed, as those close will tell you.

Anybody can lie but to lie and convince people like me takes skills, and even if Nana is lying, he has good skills in addition to others historical attributes he has accumulated.

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I have never met Nana Addo and as such can only make judgment on what I read and assume he contributed most ideas to this speech and understands the numbers well on his own personal cognitive skills. A man who will be a leader must be able to remember these numbers if awaken up at 3am, as former US first lady and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton once pointed out on her experience when challenging Barack Obama for the American Presidency in 2007/2008.

Folks, I admire and love our colleagues and friends competing for the Presidency: Dr. Abu Sakara, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, and Jacob Osei Yeboah. However we all have to be realistic.

I am not an NPP man and there is a reason that goes back in 1992 to the historical recognition of the good deeds of Kwame Nkrumah so we could all move on anew. Many of the current or rather retiring founders of the NPP, men like the late friend Prof. Adu Boahen, made tragic mistakes by efforts to diminish Kwame Nkrumah’s contribution and that turned me off totally from the NPP even though I don’t think Socialism (if anybody associated Nkrumah with Socialism) is the key to modern day development. I had reservations that I just expressed this evening on the GLU forum, but after reading this speech, and putting my mind in his mind, assuming they come mostly from the mind of Nana Addo, we have to take into consideration Nana’s historical contributions to the struggle in the 1980s for freedom from the treason and dictatorship of the PNDC. He showed great leadership at the time, and knowing that nobody is perfect, I have to say that unless there is some magical occurrence in Ghana in the next 4 months, Nana Akufo Addo deserves to win and will win hands down. It will not even be close as it was last time in 2008.

Yes! Nana is predicted to win (even if the NDC tries any dirty desperate games). However, who he appoints to implement these lofty but achievable goals will be his test. First, can he pass the mustard test and appoint people even from outside who have global expertise in industry, strategic budget design, technologies, or he will once again follow the traditional standards of picking those he knows in Ghana. It is up to him. Secondly, can he institute discipline in Ghana after 30 years of chaos, and enforce the laws on the books without fear of becoming unpopular? The only way for leadership success in a chaotic place, as I have elaborated on the GLU and other forums are clear:

(1) Shaka Zulu style of hanging people on stakes in the public square so others can learn – which most will say is uncivilized;

(2) The Lee Kuan Yew Singapore style of executive direct participation in almost every aspect of society guiding with no-forgiveness principles according to the traditions and discipline of the great teacher Confucius.

(3) The Western British or American system of strict adherence to the laws, prosecution and judicial action with no favors and no fears, but of course with no corruption. I think this is what we tried and it failed due to the corruption.

My friend Kojo should have no doubt at all. Many may wish Nana Addo will announce his team soon so we can analyze and criticize them, but honestly he should not. There are some NPP crooks we know who should be totally distanced from him and I personally don’t feel happy with his mention of Kufuor too much. Yes, Kufuor did his part but little did Nana Addo realize that in 2008 it was the dissatisfaction with President Kufuor and his lack of transparency and peoples’ perception of corruption that allowed the NPP to lose. Kufuor is perceived as a greedy and selfish man, and as much as he may have initiated some projects in Ghana for some privatization, sincerity in accounting was missing in Ghana. In addition Kufuor never tore down the elements of centralized government that is holding Ghana down after coup and PNDC era. Why did a man who claimed he hated dictatorship not amend the constitution and allowed one man to appoint over 4,000 for his Cabinet, Regional, District and Metro Chief executives! Why? Kufuor simply went ahead and used the system and enriched himself. Any association with Kufuor is therefore negative.

As I have said, I don’t know Nana and never met him. I have been doing this Ghana politics for some 44 years now and it is my prediction that Nana Addo will be the next President of Ghana come January 2013. All the stars are in his favor now. The December 2012 elections will not even be close. Nana Addo will win. It is time for change.

May God Bless Ghana - Our motherland Ghana!

Dr. Kwaku A. Danso