Of tinapa and cabinet posts: the sad delusions of the NPP

Kwabena Nyamekye

After the overthrow of the Liman government in 1981 exiles from his administration that were based in London expected a swift return to power. After all the new military administration was extremely unpopular at the time as no one saw the need for an overthrow of the third republic. With this vision in mind, they tended to have meetings at a place in London called Finsbury Park to strategize on how to govern Ghana on their return to power. A relative of mine attended one such meeting and at the heart of the heated debate was who will get the import licence for Tinapa! Ei bei he said to himself: we have been overthrown in Ghana and you are here in London sharing import licences? To him this marked the decline of the Nkrumahists. When Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown the CPP exiles never talked about such nonsense. When Busia was exiled for a second time he organized the UP tradition so as to keep it vibrant and strong. The CPP in its second exile spoke of Tinapa import licenses! Not surprisingly there has been the failure to organize the party and the Nkrumahist tradition has virtually ceased to exist with most of its members deserting to the NDC and some being happy to work with the Danquah-Busia tradition.

The importance of this is reflected in the just completed NPP primaries in Tema West. The outcome was the defeat of Naa Torshie – by all accounts a darling of the current NPP ruling elite as we saw claims that the delegates should re-elect her as she was to be given a cabinet post in the Nana Addo Administration. At once, I had visions of Tinapa! The reason why this happened was because I was forced to ask myself the likelihood of a Nana Addo presidency in 2016?

We of the Danquah-Busia tradition have battled immense odds to win power and to help develop our country. When Prof Adu Boahen entered the fray in 1992 we had nothing. Given just about 90 days to organize with the ban on political parties being lifted very late in 1992, Prof performed heroically by managing to secure 30% of the vote. He had laid the groundwork for our future triumph and so when JA Kufuor came along and in 2000 all the hard work paid off with a stunning victory across the country. This was repeated in 2004. Then in 2007 the baton was passed to a new leader, Nana Addo, and all hell broke loose. In reality the seeds for defeat were laid in 2005. The divisive elements in our party, true to their UNC heritage, hooted at the sitting president JA Kufuor at the Legon conference. JAK’s crime was that he said the delegates should choose Stephen Ntim as party chairman as we needed a symbol from the BA Region, this being a swing region that we needed to hold onto for victory in 2008. Just around that time the New Statesman newspaper printed an article calling Nana Addo take over the party as he spoke better English than JA Kufuor the sitting president.

With such divisive tendencies, the party is drowning in the mud of defeat. The list makes sad reading: In 2008 we lost the following: 4 swing regions; parliamentary majority and the presidency. In 2009 the Chereponi seat that was ours was lost to NDC in a by election. We had no respite as in 2012 the picture was as follows: Parliamentary seats shrink further, presidential vote shrinks further from 49% to 47%. Ashanti region vote declines. Eastern region vote declines and horror of all horrors the Danquah-Busia tradition flag bearer loses the vote in Wenchi where Busia was from!

In recent times building on the divisive tactics of 2005 the ability to destroy the party from within has been taken to new heights. Apart from the tradition of defeats continuing as seen in Tallensi, the destruction of party structures has started in earnest. “I can’t work with certain people” and “No Nana No Vote” is turning out to be a poisonous cocktail we are being forced to drink. The power of the General Secretary and Chairman is under attack. We are told that the election campaign will probably not use party structures because the candidate will have to work with people he can’t work with. Someone has cooked up an Agenda 2020 myth which looking closely is even worse than “No Nana No Vote”. This is because for eternity if we are not careful, anytime we open nominations for a flag bearer someone will scream if you don’t vote for me as candidate my people will divide the party from within by boycotting the presidential election thus ensuring our defeat. Also if I am flag bearer and I am defeated it will be the result of a dastardly internal plot of those who supported rival candidates and will not be down to my shortcomings as a leader! This will begin a tradition that will probably never end and will serve to divide us forever.

There is hope on the horizon. Some primaries have seen diehard supporters of Nana Addo take a beating. I was personally sad to see Dr. Afriyie Akoto lose in Kwadaso as he is such a brilliant MP. One Awuah Ababio, Nana Addo’s representative in London was tasked with the responsibility of unseating Addai Nimoh in Mampong but this did not happen. Naa Torshie was held up as a darling of Akuffo Addo but the Tema West delegates have said no to her! Jackie Amoah a very competent woman and another Nana Addo follower lost in Juaben on Saturday to the incumbent. It is not looking too good for my man lawyer Addison in Korle Klottey another person very close to Nana Addo. And as much as I think Ursula Owusu actually has the qualities to be president of our country, I fear her being identified with Nana Addo will cause her defeat in Ablekuma West.

As I sit down to eat my Tinapa stew I am beginning to ask myself if given the recent display of bad leadership, whether the NPP messiah is gradually being exposed as a mere mortal responsible for the sad state of our great tradition? Just recently all members of the party deferred to his wishes but since the attacks on our structures obviously there is a shift at the base of the party. If this recent development is the sign of a permanent trend, then perhaps we stand a chance of winning the 2016 election as party structures can be revived, the flag bearer can be made to realize the party is not his private property, and that he must work with all as a signal to Ghanaians he is a true leader.