Stop Alfred Woyome And His Dirty Politics Now!!

I was quite puzzled to watch an unfolding drama

last Tuesday at the national headquarters of the ruling national democratic

congress. It was about a demonstration against the national security

co-ordinator,Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey. The demonstrators led by one Hajiah

Sherifatu

Sulley among other things claimed that the national security co-ordinator must

be removed from office.

Understandably, the whole saga has become

nauseating for many, especially for those who would prefer the NDC stay clear

of tendencies that can ruin the party’s chances in the 2012 general elections.

Still, this issue is too important nationally to fall victim to those who

believes that, it their duty to undermine the integrity of the national

security capo, and in the process make a fool out of all of us. As things

stand, there is hardly a day without some development in the NDC, and where

nothing new is emerging; there is always the appearance of a new intrigue to

muddy the waters and the chances of the party in next year’s general elections.

Whatever the motivation, it is obvious that Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome is on to

something, but it is within the NDC’s best interest to act in a manner that

advances the collective interest of the party above Woyome’s own political and

parochial agenda.

It cannot be that any one individual has so much

political clout and power to be able to commandeer an entire political party to

deploy both human and financial resources to fight what, on the face of it,

appears to be needless, futile but orchestrated attempts to undermine the

national security capo. As these petty parochial agenda of Mr. Woyome rages on,

some disquieting developments have begun emerging to threaten our peace of mind

and it must be stemmed before they blow us off our feet. I am even tempted to

infer from those happenings that Alfred Woyome is pushing our politics to the

lowest depths of depravity.

My first serious encounter with Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome

was at the recent national delegate congress of the NDC in Sunyani, where he

took it upon himself to ridicule President Rawlings on Asempa fm’s makeshift

studio at the congress ground, I had to intervene and the programme ended

abruptly. Ever since, I’ve followed with keen interest, his political

activities in and out of the Volta region.

The fact of the matter is that, what happened last

Tuesday was not just a contract demonstration, but a futile and orchestrated

attempt by Mr. Alfred Woyome to undermine the national security capo for his

parochial interest. The least said about the issues raised by the so-called

demonstrators, the better. The claim that Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey is using

his influence to get his son elected as the next Member of Parliament for Hohoe

North is only a decoy. Those of us who are involved in the politics of Hohoe

North and the Volta region for that matter, understands, what this intrigues is

all about. It is about Mr Alfred Woyome, who is not even an indigene of Hohoe

yet finds it appropriate to meddle in the politics of Hohoe North. Alfred

Woyome thinks the people of Hohoe North and the volta region for that matter,

must uphold his principles, principles we may not believe in but which serves

his petty parochial interest instead of advancing the cause of the collective.

Not too long ago, some

top party executives and elders from the Hohoe North constituency came down

very hard on Alfred Woyome for the unprecedented level of corruption and

bribery in the Hohoe Municipal assembly during the tenure of the ousted

Municipal Chief Executive, Victor Herman Condobrey. Ever since Victor Condobry, who

happens to be

the nephew of Woyome’ wife, a native of Gbi-kpeme, was removed, Alfred Woyome

has never forgiven those he claimed were behind the removal of his trusted

crony. The moment Mr. Condobrey was removed from office as Hohoe MCE, Alfred

Woyome started working against the constituency party chairman, Mr. Wonder

Boasilenu and the national security capo on suspicion that it was Lt. Col.

Gbevlo Lartey who masterminded the dismissal of the MCE. Ever since, Woyome has

consistently dabbled in all sort of shady activities to undermine the national

security capo. He was the brain behind the two unsuccessful demonstrations both

in Hohoe and Accra.

It was this same

Alfred Agbesi Woyome who contested the nationality of Kofi Adams, an aide to

president Rawlings and the deputy General Secretary of the NDC and Siki Abibu,

the Deputy Volta Regional Youth Organizer and subsequently incurred the wrath

of the people of the volta region.

To the best of my knowledge, before the NDC, Lt.

Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey was, and he will continue to be a pillar as far as the

NDC is concerned. Every party activists

knows Gbevlo’s contribution to the sustenance of the NDC since its formation,

and some of us will fight with our last drop of blood to ensure that the

dignity of this brave, courageous, affable and sefless man is not soiled by

characters like Alfred Woyome, who is desperately trying very hard to earn an

unsavory reputation.

I can confidently say that, Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo

Lartey has paid his dues to the NDC and Ghana so well that, the people of the

Volta region and Hohoe north for that matter will not hesitate to honour him

any day. Can we say the same of Alfred Woyome? No one needs to remind us of the

heroic feats of Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey. We are fully aware of his

exploits both in the army and now as a national security capo.

Granted Gbevlo’s son is interested in the Hohoe

North seat, what is wrong about that? Is he not an indigene? Has he flouted any

party regulations? Who is Alfred Woyome to decide for the people of Hohoe

North? Neither Alfred Woyome nor the Hajia Sherifatu he contracted to

demonstrate against Gbevlo Lartey are indigenes of Hohoe North and he should do

himself and the people of volta region some good by shutting up if he has

nothing meaningful to contribute towards our forward march for a brighter and

sustainable future. If Woyome thinks he can

repeat the 2004 shenanigans in which Hon. Prince Jacob Hayibor emerged as the

MP in Hohoe north constituency, then he is in for a serious trouble. Unlike

Gbevlo Lartey, Woyome is an alien in terms of Hohoe politics and he must desist

from his thoughtless and infamous shenanigans against true sons and daughters

of the constituency.

Alfred Woyome should come out boldly and tell Ghanaians

a bit about himself and stop stirring the hornets’ nest in his agenda to

destroy the NDC. He should tell us what he did with his life when he was sent

to the US for an intelligence course? He should come out and tell Ghanaians the

sort of things he did in the US with his friend who later became the president

of Austria? Alfred Woyome should also tell us the circumstance that led to his

appointment as Vice Honorary Consul to the Austrian Embassy in Ghana? How possible is

it that, somebody who claims to be a onetime Vice Honorary Consul of Austria to

Ghana and a senior citizen would be involved in such dirty politics? Where lies

his moral authority? If Woyome thinks all of us are boot lickers and will sing

his praise or will tremble at his beck and call because of his so- called

wealth and influence then, he must rethink his position.

Today, all these self serving individuals want all of us to

worship them. The likes of Alfred Woyome claim, he is now the overlord of all

“voltarians”, and the political godfather of the region. He also claims that he

can make the president to appoint and disappoint and as such, he will do

anything to bring down Lt. Col. Colonel Gbevlo Lartey. The party leadership in the

region really is at great fault for

not censoring the likes of Alfred Woyome who has continue to bring the name of

the party into disrepute. Our intelligence and the love for the NDC is being

insulted. And there’s a huge burden of guilt to be laid at Alfred Woyome for

simply engaging in act that has the potential of breaking the NDC.The volta region

is and will continue to be the bedrock of the NDC. We must not

allow any self serving individuals to discredit great sons and daughters of the

region.

Without inciting violence or mayhem, it is high

time we mustered the strength and tenacity to “chase those baldheads such as Alfred

Woyome out of town”. The truth is, the mess he is creating for the party in the

volta region is not and cannot be good for the party and the country for that

matter. It has the potential of making an already bad situation worse. The

national headquarters must sit up and call the likes of Alfred Woyome to order.

Stubbornly sticking its neck, chest and head in support of some convenient

principle and then mounting a grand scheme of acting is inconsistent with the

principles of social justice. While democracy offers us the window to

communicate our views on any subject matter, it does not allow incendiary

provocations. The NDC cannot afford the cost of any human folly. The party just

returned from a very tortuous congress and there is a lot of work to be done in

order to retain power in the 2012 general elections. These needless agitations

will not serve anybody’s interest and the likes of Alfred Woyome must be told

in plain language that, enough is enough.

A fox that rejects the wise counsel of the wolf,

and pursues a fight with the hyena, has no one to blame, but himself, if the

hyena places its head between its locked jaws, and makes mince meat out of it.

What is implausible, today, could be inevitable, tomorrow. Alfred Woyome must

watch it.

I shall be back!

Emmanuel Dela Coffie

www.delacoffie.wordpress.com