Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu may be drowned in the pool of greed and selfishness

Dear leader of the majority group in parliament,

I just sighted an interesting opinion that is purported to have been expressed by you while speaking on the Joy News’ The Probe show. Here is what you have been quoted to have said, “Inwardly, I know I also have the competence but is it wise for me now immediately after two Akans; Kufuor had been the President, Akufo-Addo follows from the Eastern Region and there is third Akan to follow? Doing introspection, I think it may not hold well for a party that is accused by some as being overly Akanistic party. But not everybody agrees with me. And that is the beauty of democracy”

When I first saw it I thought it was fake news, but after asking a few friends about it, it turned out you really made that statement. Well, I am one of those who don’t agree with you. Honorable, with your position as the leader of the majority group in parliament, one would have expected that your public comment concerning the 2023 presidential primary of the party would be seasoned with political ingenuity and maturity. It’s unfortunate that a respected leader like you would make such a reckless statement because of personal political interest.

I have always maintained that greed and selfishness are the reasons for the unbridled deafness and blindness that send a ruling party into opposition. Your current posture and comment that it would be unwise for the NPP to present another Akan as the party’s candidate after Kufuor and Nana Addo is not only reckless and disingenuous. It is also in line with the argument the NDC has been making over the years as bait to get the NPP to change their winning tactics. So, in effect, you want the NPP to do as the NDC says. Well done, Honorable. Was it not on your watch that the NPP lost the Speakership to the NDC? And, do you want us to lose the Presidency too to the NDC? Not only that, with all due respect, your statement also demonstrates hypocrisy, greed, and selfishness on your part. Honorable, bear with my words for if nothing had scratched palm foliage it wouldn’t have creaked.

I wouldn’t have responded if any other person had made such an irresponsible statement. But, because it is coming from you as the leader of the party in parliament, I have been compelled to bring to your memory some facts and truths you may have forgotten. You see, when people consistently forget things, it is sometimes attributed to dementia. However, when people deliberately forget things about themselves and pretend to be what they are not, it is called hypocrisy. Honorable, your loss of memory isn’t dementia; it is the hypocrisy of the highest order, hence my decision to respond to you in order that your deliberate memory loss can be restored.

After you co-engineered and superintended over what has gone down to be the most shameful and despicable conduct that has ever greeted the NPP on the flow of parliament, you now seem to be eyeing another position in the party, the position of the Vice-President. Unfortunately, you are not the only one who has started playing the tribal card against an Akan for your selfish interest. Others who also want the post you are currently eyeing are doing the same thing. The difference is that, unlike you, they are sensibly playing the card under table. But, quite frankly, I wish you had made the same argument for the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama in the 2007 Legon Congress. Politics!

Why am I ascribing greed and selfishness to you Honorable? I am doing that because your words seem to portray you as someone who is quite disturbed by the Akan party tag the NDC has put on the NPP. But then, your deeds seem to be echoing louder than your words something that is entirely different from the argument you have disingenuously put forward. Honorable, can I ask you a few questions? So, what were you thinking when you made that statement? Do you think someone like you have the moral temerity to make the kind of statement you made? Finally, has your chance of becoming the Alhaji’s running mate been enhanced since you made the reckless statement? I am sure the Alhaji called you to express his appreciation. Don’t tell me he didn’t call you.

Honorable, some time ago, I listened to an interview you granted the media. You were proudly talking about the number of years you had served as the leader of the NPP in parliament. Let me confess and say that I envied you paaa when I was listening to you that day. Wow! But, wait a minute honorable, are you not the party’s 5th leader in parliament since 1996? Is my memory playing tricks on me? Yes, I remember! You are the party’s 5th leader in the legislature. You come after venerable Hon. J. H. Mensah, Hon. Felix Owusu Agyepong, Hon. Abraham Osei Aidoo and Papa Owusu Ankoma.

Honorable, remember I said your loss of memory isn’t dementia; it is hypocrisy of the highest order. So, let me remind you that all the names I have mentioned above are Akans, all of whom are still alive today with exception of the venerable J. H Mensah, may his brilliant and levelheaded soul rest in perfect peace.

It means you are the 5th Akan and the longest-serving leader of the party in parliament. Or, you aren’t an Akan anymore! Perhaps your Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu is from Teshie! So, you are the 5th Akan but you don’t want someone else to be the 3rd Akan. As Fante man or woman would say, “Ebei Honorable, iy3 nyimpa bon papa!” Do you remember I questioned your moral temerity? Again, as the Akans would say, se otua wo nyanko ho a nna otua dua mu. This one koraa how can I say it in English. Ok let me try! If the pain is being inflicted on another and not on yourself, then it is being inflicted on a tree or wood.

On a more serious note, Honorable, why didn’t you refuse the House leadership position when it was being offered to you as an Akan man when you knew that all your predecessors were Akans? Or, you had forgotten then that you are Akan. It’s possible you had forgotten right? Everything is possible under the sun! Honorable Honorable! Again, has it ever occurred to you that occupying that position as an Akan for that number of years makes the party an Akan party, if we were to accept your argument? If your answer is yes, then why haven’t you been so honorable enough over the years to allow a non-Akan member of parliament to take over from you as the NPP leader in parliament? Perhaps there had never been a non-Akan MP who qualifies to take over from you.

You this Honorable Majority Group Leader, even when you messed up so shamefully on the floor of the House, you still shamelessly bulldozed your way to hold on to the position you have occupied for many years. And, even as I write this in response to your reckless statement, you are still an Akan and the majority leader. Honorable Honorable! I know you like fans that is why I am flowing you more fans. I saw it the day you read the budget. Should I challenge you to resign from that leadership position to prove me wrong that you have moral temerity under your sleeves?

Perhaps you don’t see anything wrong with your power drunkenness. Well, you would be right, if you say you don’t see anything wrong with that because, in actual fact, there is nothing wrong with that. It has never been an issue in parliament because this party was not planned and built to operate in a rotational fashion. So, why do you want to make it seem as though it is a taboo for an Akan to lead the party in 2024? I am really traumatized by your hypocrisy. I know you had even suggested at one point in time that people like you should be protected from party’s internal contest. Honorable Honorable! You really love big post. How about the day you were asked by the President to read the budget? You really loved the attention. No wonder you are currently eyeing the Vice President position.

Honorable, I know you have desired to be the Alhaji’s running mate ahead of others who have also been nurturing the same ambition. That is why you didn’t care so much about the consequences of your recent reckless statement. But you need to know that the party’s interest overrides your parochial one. Honorable, to be honest with you, I thought you really understood politics. I least expected that hollow argument from you. At least, you could have raised the bar a bit higher with a very cogent argument.

Or, your understanding of the basic rudiments of politics is currently being marred by your vice-presidential ambition. So, per your argument, even if the NPP has the most marketable person who happens to be an Akan, the party should forget about such a person and go in for a non-Akan person, even if the non-Akan is not so marketable. I am yet to find a name for this political wisdom of yours, Honorable.

You see, in a very competitive political environment, the most sensible thing for a political party to do is not to rotate its presidential candidates in response to phony noise from the opposition party. It would be the most grievous mistake for a political to think of changing its tactics without taking into consideration the key factors and circumstances on the political market. For me, the best way to approach the next election is to look at the current strength of each potential candidate in terms of the broader political market acceptability and decide on the one with the highest market appeal. Am I making sense, Honorable? If I am making sense more than you on this particular issue say it o - our elders say “nyansa nnyi bakofo ne tsir mu”.

Honorable, you think the party can put up any candidate and win right? The other day, someone said even if the party makes Ekua Donkor the presidential candidate, we will win the election. Do you agree? Lest I forget, Ekua Donkor is an Akan so you won’t agree abi? Until you take up my challenge to resign as the leader of the party in parliament, you are still the reigning 5th Akan Minority/Majority Leader.

Honorable, this is just my initial response to that reckless statement of yours. I would be glad to have a full-blown debate with you on this matter anywhere anytime any day. And, let it be made known to you that anytime you make another such reckless and unguarded statement relative to the 2023 presidential primary of the party or any other issue that seeks to damage the good of our party, I would appropriately respond. But please, I hope I have not crossed the line for contempt of parliament. I salute you in reverence!

Shalom!