; Much Ado About Nothing!!!
It was with disdain that I read the
letter addressed to the chairman of the electoral commission, Dr. Kwodwa Afari
Djan by the chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Jake
Obetsebi-Lamptey. The NPP in the said letter expressed their deep sense of
apprehension about the secretive and silent manner with which the Electoral
Commission is conducting affairs towards the 2012 elections, describing it as a
recipe for disaster.
In the light of this, Jake has
stated emphatically that the NPP would not be a supporter of the flawed and
opaque process the Electoral Commission is currently embarking on in handling
the impending Biometric Voter Registration exercise. Jake further added that
the NPP would rather advocate for the EC to undertake a new manual registration
system which is open, transparent, verifiable, economical and auditable (tried
and tested) done simultaneously in all polling stations rather than support the
flawed and opaque system the EC intends embarking on.
According to Jake, several calls
made by the NPP for specific information and materials on the tender process
leading to the procurement of equipment and materials has so far fallen on deaf
ears. “We realize that your institution has no experience in the field of
electoral Biometrics and you have not requested credible experts to help you in
undertaking this exercise. This can lead only to a bad outcome. Coming events
cast their shadow.” Jake Obetsebi Lamptey said.
It’s difficult to understand why the
opposition new patriotic party seems to be complaining about anything and
everything the electoral commission does these days. Was it not the same NPP
and their surrogates at Danquah Institute that advocated for the biometric
registration? What has change? Where was Obetsebi Lamptey’s conscience when the
made his bizarre remark on the biometric registration? Am I truly hearing
this comment coming from Obetsebi Lamptey, the pauper-politician, who once
thought that he possessed the magic wand to wish away the nation’s problems? Is
this not the same gentleman who once threw caution to the wind and ignored the
political party’s code of conduct by announcing the result of the 2004
elections ahead of the EC? My questions are endless and I need unscripted
answers from Jake Obetsebi Lamptey. Though the fight for a credible biometric
register must be in the interest of all political parties and the country for
that matter, the NPP’s apprehension can only be likened to a child crying wolf,
when indeed there is no wolf. The fear of remaining in opposition for far too
long is catching up with the NPP and they must be ignored.
Every political watcher in Ghana,
after the 2008 elections, are aware that Gabby Asare Okyere-Darko and the
Danquah Institute have been one of the vociferous campaigners of the biometric
voting. Now that the electoral commission is considering the system, NPP is
backtracking. It is my hope that the NPP is not trying to find an excuse to
discredit the 2012 elections. What do the NPP take Ghanaians for? When they
were at the roof tops crying for biometric voter register, didn’t they know
that the biometric voting has both pros and cons? Does it mean that they were
just making ugly noises, when they were advocating for the biometric
registration? This is the more reason why they should never come back to
power. How many times are we going to allow ourselves to be victimized by the
unbridled folly and shenanigans of our experimental NPP politicians? Why are
they so ugly in their thinking and reasoning?
The fact of the matter is that the
NPP is worried because this time round, they are not in a position to
manipulate and massage the election figures just like they did in the 2004 and
2008 elections. There is substantial evidence to support the fact that some
constituencies in the Ashanti region incredibly recorded over 100% voter
turnout. What could explain this bizarre election trend if not rigging? That is
the NPP’s fear. They will not exploit the advantages of incumbency as they did
in the past and so they will do everything to cast doubt over the elections
results in 2012. The NPP do not have anything to offer Ghanaians. They know
that they have lost the election already that is why they are always cooking up
stories. The fact that the NPP makes needless, unreasonable and pointless
complains depicts the absolute fact that they don't know what they are about as
an alternative to the ruling party. They have realize that, they have lost the
battle in advance, but instead of designing, planning and developing a credible
objective to woe people to their side, they are wasting time criticizing every
initiative.
It is very unfortunate, indeed, that
rather than expending all their efforts in articulating their development
plans, ideas, manifesto and "promises" at every opportune time, the
NPP, time and again, seem to squander that opportunity and stray into
discussing frivolities. With Nana Akufo Addo being their leader, what would you
expect, anyway? The average person on the "Street", is more interested
in bread and butter issues, including how they can feed their families, defray
their children's school and other expenses, take care of their health, take
care of their farms and businesses, get their produce to the markets in a
timely fashion, secure jobs, secure affordable housing, etc., etc. They are not
interested in NPP frivolities. That seemingly childish strategy does not win
votes. All it does is to portray them as immature and non-serious bunch
of politicians. If Nana Akufo Addo and the NPP were to do discourse on
substantive issues, maybe, just maybe, some people would take them seriously,
but given the current tone of their discourse on different political platforms,
only time will tell if indeed Nana Akufo is serious about his chances of
becoming the president of Ghana.
Personally, I don’t think we should
take the NPP seriously on their side-splitting rhetoric which range from
borderline insanity to tales from Alice Wonderland. Those childish, baseless
archaic ideas of the sixties and seventies have no place in this day and age,
and it is about time that someone drummed that in the ears and brains of these
NPP stalwarts. They seem to lack solid ideas that would help accelerate
national development. Akufo Addo should tell the electorate what he would do
differently from what transpired during Kufuor’s 8-years misrule of which he
played an integral role.
While decrying the alleged lack of
transparency on the part of the EC, the NPP has to approach their criticisms
with an open mind. Experts may vary on a lot of issues but what will carry the
day is what is generally accepted as minimally acceptable. The call on the EC
to come clean is important and timely but should not be preceded by taking of
entrenched positions.
We are building a better Ghana with
strong institutions and the EC is more than credible to do its work. The
electoral commission should prove their fairness by addressing the concerns of
all stakeholders in a transparent manner to ensure zero grievances from parties
and the credibility of the 2012 elections.
Whiles at it, the EC and Ghanaians
for that matter must not pander to the whims and caprices of the NPP. They must
stop insulting the intelligence of Ghanaians. We are tired of their unnecessary
complains.
I shall be back!!
Emmanuel Dela Coffie
www.delacoffie.wordpress.com
