The Rise and Fall of NDC.

It will be remiss of me as a citizen of Ghana if I donot say something

about what is happening now in the NDC party. The steady drumbeat of

despair in the country is telling a big story for the party in power

now. In the blue corner of the ring is president Mr.Atta Mills and in

the red corner is Mr/Mrs Rawlings and FONKAR

People at the top of NDC echelon have to end this bickering,

backstabbing and intolerable paralysis as the die hard supporters are

going batty. It is also unfortunate that this political biases have

gone to feed the imaginations of some of the supporters on each side

into twisting the basic facts. What will happen in Sunyani should be

an occasion for the party followers to reaffirm that their political

differences shouldn't degenerate into demonization but if the

unfortunate happens, then the leaders will be the architects of their

own downfall as it is always said that in politics the distance between

idiot and genius especially at the highest levels can be measured in

days. The unvarnished truth is that the opposition party (NPP) are

hoping things stay bad and they will thank the political gods for the

manna from heaven.

All the problems for the deep cracks in NDC party should be laid squarely

at the doorstep of Mr,Rawlings and some of the party big wigs who are

afraid to call a spade a spade by telling the ex president not to wash

the party's dirty linen in public. It is a well known fact that Mr,

Rawlings has been the rain maker for NDC candidates across the country

and the mouth piece for the party in very delicate and difficult to say

issues. As a result of this he has wielded so much power and become

untouchable or a monster in the party that they dare not make him livid.

I once did admire everyting about him from his style to his essence but

of late there is something worryingly cyclical about his behaviour.

If his reasoning is taken to its logical extreme, nobody will be fit for

the job of the president except him. Anybody who does not tow his lines

or kowtow to him is considered a liability or nonentity. When he was in

power the party gave him their unflinching support for 8 years without

any opposition. President Mills was the one who this same man "imposed"

on the party to run for the presidency on two failed attempts and later

became the president. It's therefore unthinkable that in less than 3

years he is seeking the downfall of this same president Mills. The

intensity of the hatred is much higher now and will be more visceral than

what we have seen.

In his hubristic drive for dominance in the party, he and his FONKAR

followers resorted to some staccato remarks about the president. Their

actions and sayings of late and on what was captured on the secret

recordings has landed them at ground zero of a controversy in which

their patriotism and love for the party and country are being

questioned. The best way to always win an argument is to begin by being

right and FONKAR followers know very well that Nana Konadu Agyeman

Rawlings doesn't have the experience or mental acuity to be a president.

The fact that she was a first lady does not qualify her to take that

position. Also to be the leader of women's movement is different from

becoming a president of a country. Her followers should stop praising

her with a cascade of encomiums describing her as an extraordinary

person with stellar qualities. The positives in her resume are as short

as that of a window cleaner.

How can these people deny the obvious that president Mills hasn't got

all the qualities to lead the party?. They can compare the two who are

going to contest in Sunyani in every respect and the analogy breaks

down at key points. They are devoid of vision and rendered incoherent

by these irrational anger and myopic views. Facts to them don't seem

to matter as their world view is terribly limited. Also people who

have studied ex-president Rawlings in his different incarnations will

believe that he is finding it hard to subject himself to any authority.

What he and his ilk should know is that Ghana is not for any one

family or tribe. The fact that he is the founding father of the party

does not mean he owns it in any way or form. He must be told to

replace acrimony with civility and gridlock in the party with progress,

for a house divided amongst itself does not stand. Voter attitudes

could bode ill for NDC in some regions should this remain unchanged

after the Sunyani convention and when the party seeks to defend its

turf in 2012.

I believe in democracy and Konadu Agyemang Rawlings has every right to

challenge the incumbent president and as a result of that she must be

allowed to assess the landscape and draw her own conclusion about how to

proceed even though she knows she wouldn't win. It doesn't matter who

the Yutong bus driver is but the most important thing is for the driver

to take the party to their destinaton safely. The performance of this

president is peerless and without him the hopes of NDC staying in power

in the next election will be in intensive care. Everybody knows that

the long term prognosis for the party is less encouraging because of all

these infighting. I really bear no animus towards Mr, Rawlings or

FONKAR but my million dollar question to them is, what does it take for

them to stop being the payed piper of hatred?.

Mr, Rawlings should take a cue from the past presidents who belonged to

the same party with their presidents and never criticized them. Nelson

Mandella didn't do that. Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton haven't done that.

Reagan and Bush 1 did not so why is Rawlings doing this to the same

person he supported for so long?. Does he need constant attention?.

Anything bad should have been dealt with behind the scenes after all a

softer tone of approach to any problem can work perfectly well like a

needle and thread on a torn fabric. Due to his attitude and lack of

respect for the current president, he has emerged as an indecisive

cliche`-spouting leader instead of an inspirational leader. He has

evinced such contempt for the rule of law "do unto others" that the

popular support he once garnered is on the wane. This is the reason why

he thinks he is being squeezed out of the party.

If some of the NDC members think life under president Mills is

unbearable and bad, they should wait till they go into the opposition

then they would know the difference between day and night. To blame or

traduce the president for all the country's problems is farcical. They

should leave him to make a decision on how to crack the whip and support

him to the end. Dr, David Sunu, Mr, Teye Nyaunu and Herbert Mensah

should know that the president is guided more by the concerns of

education, transportation, economy, physical security and not by the

compass of party ideology, loyalty to one person or vindictiveness. If

Mr, Rawlings, his wife and FONKAR supporters want to circumvent the

constitution from a two term to three term president through the wife

for him then they should know that Ghanaians are too smart for that.

Lastly, the leaders of NDC have one month to change things and let sanity

prevail in the party else we will be reading the first page in a thriller

that will end either in resurrection or the death and burial of a party.

If the later happens then NPP will be the beneficiary. If NPP were able

to turn things around last year, NDC should be able to do the same thing.

The ball is in the court of Mr/Mrs Rawlings and FONKAR.

Seth Bonsu (Denver-USA)