The NPP Congress; palmwine tapper insult, 275 buses and filth!!

The New Patriotic Party [NPP] has emerged from its National Delegates Conference, having the highest bidder, Freddie Blay elected as the substantive Chairman of the party, polling 3,021 votes as against Stephen Ntim’s 2,515 votes.

For some of us as observers, the vote margin by which Stephen Ntim lost is a testament that he is a gallant loser and the choice of the grassroots, that but for the President’s support, 275 buses and money, use of intimidation, biased Emceeing, Stephen Ntim would have carried the day.

A glance at his votes, Stephen Ntim appeared to have swept the votes from delegates holding elective positions at the grassroots from the 275 constituencies, the diaspora and MPs with leaning towards J.A. Kufour’s camp while the appointed party Executives, Ministers, MMDCEs, others all of whom were whipped in line, voted for Freddie Blay.

At a time appointments to party/government positions are done at the neglect of persons from Kufour’s camp, one would rarely count on the votes of such appointees for Stephen Ntim.

This is an election that had the battle line long drawn between Nana Akufo Addo’s camp and former Prez John Kufour’s to which belong veteran, Stephen Ntim who rejected the sitting President’s request to step down for Blay, an action Ntim himself had had to pay dearly for in a vengeful handshake from the President, aptly captured by Dailygraphic.com, his security guys and some supporters had their fair share in physical attacks at the congress. Sad for democracy!

By the way, as observed, requiring a re-look, the NPP’s electoral system seemed skewed and favors the camp in control of the party/government. The camp at the neglect of qualified party persons across board willseek to fill party executive/government positions with apparatchiks most of whom become delegates to vote for the President’s favorites as seen in Koforidua.

But Koforidua notwithstanding, the message was clear that the grassroots don’t share in Akufo Addo’s choice of Chairman. They stood by the “Ye nim no fre tete” principle. It speaks to the kind of power the President wields over his party – virtually ineffectual; lame duck. Pitiful!

Now, the congress has left in its wake among others two things - filth and calls from eminent persons and groups to investigate Freddie Blay, a public officer for his source of wealth to solely procure 275 buses costing $11million for the NPP. The most warped, absurd defense requiring immediate Police arrest of the utterer came from Sammy Awuku, that he afforded 200 motorbikes for votes; therefore 275 buses by Freddie Blay should not be a course for worry.

It beats everyone’s imagination that Freddie Blay whose Newspaper business could not produce 100 copies per day in 2016 let alone be able to raise Gh1.5million to clear an aged NPP debt owed to Prudential bank, has all of a sudden become wealthy as Board Chairman of GNPC and able to pay $3million as deposit for the buses.

Again, Freddie Blay’s questionable gesture is at a time that the country lacks ambulances for emergencies, hospitals constructed are locked up because of claims of no funds to operationalize them as patients are dying due to lack of bed whereas Korle Bu is requesting patients to come along with plastic chairs to serve as their beds, a sad case of 1 patient, 1 plastic chair.

As “frauddie” and hoarse as he sound, chose to insult Ghanaians to the extent of calling the President of National House of Chiefs and Paramount chief of Asogli State a palm-wine tapper. That is sacrilegious to the nation, Asogli state and his wife, Gina Blay, a daughter of the area.

It is one week now, President Akufo Addo is pretending to be oblivious of the insult, the NPP, he, Blay chairs also sees nothing wrong about his uncouth utterances let alone distance itself from it. It only seek to confirm a portion of the Asogli State press release that the attack on the Chief and by extension his subjects and Ghanaians was a boardroom decision – agreed to by all.

That is the NPP as a party/government for you. It is in their DNA. It has taken Media Foundation for West Africa [MFWA] forever to get the party to condemn and also respond to a petition handed it over physical attacks visited by party hoodlums on Journalists who were on assignment at the party headquarters. I mean physical attacks, how much more a “mere” verbal one?

About the buses, is it not curious that the NPP that pride itself as being of the capitalist inclination; unmatched business acumen; we have the men; are the ones who can’t form a simple company to run their propaganda buses but sees STC as the savior? Indirectly, we are told the Ministry for Business Development, created for new business ideas and innovation is a waste.

With utmost respect, we can check the background of those who formed transport companies - GPRTU, PROTOA, CO-OPERATIVE, etc, and the successes they chalked over the years, their backgrounds are no-where near the supposedly acclaimed business minded party and its men yet the acclaimed ones cannot form and successfully run a company. Fraud! Talkers!

Apparently, the STC that the NPP sees today as a lifeline was collapsed by them - the supposed business minded party just as Ghana Airways, Ayensu Starch factory etc and had to take John Mahama and the NDC to revive. Typical of them, the NPP might just take us on another sad road of collapsing an SOE with the involvement of the propaganda buses. As we speak TOR has shut down, 200 staff were sent home. That is the campaign promise to offer the people jobs.

Just as Ministry for Business Development, the Sanitation related Ministry creation is also proving to be a sheer waste of scarce resources. One could not believe that a Government that has created such a Ministry would have its party congress look that filthy. It was obvious, even the party followers, executives, appointees and perhaps the Presidency lacked simple education on the sanitation program they will seek to preach to us. Funnily, we will soon get to see and hear them preaching to us about the need for sanitation.

The biggest disappointment on the day was the new National Organizer, Sammy Awuku who gleefully admitted as the one in charge of events and grounds. He claimed on Joy FM that his decision to catch a nap caused the filth we saw. What an Organizer?

In his absence, the work cannot be done. This, some of his lackeys would want to defend. I only told them, they inclusive of their boss need organizational skills tutorials.

His competence explains why during the President’s tour of Brong Ahafo, Western and Volta regions, not even the local core party folks/ youths stepped out to cheer the President despite the money and buses that were made available. The buses and the program venues were always as empty as a public latrine cited close to the James Town sea-shore or Cape Coast castle.

“Talk can give you political power but lives to expose your crass ineptitude.” - Anonymous