Where Is Kwame Pianim Also Coming From?

The other day it was a nephew of the late Victor Owusu who is also the founder of the United Ghana Movement (UGM), Dr Charles Wereko Brobbey, who tried in vain to cast doubts on the excellent decision of the NPP through its flag-bearer and two others to contest the 2012 elections at the Supreme Court.

It later emerged that he was part of the National Executive Committee of the party which decided that we should carry our glowing evidence to the Supreme Court rather than go the Rwandan way.

It was therefore baffling how he could suddenly turn to the media to castigate his own party in clear violation of availing himself to listen to the details of the case.

Then suddenly another person who is said to also be a founding member of the NPP in the person of Mr. Kwame Pianim has littered the media with comments very similar to those of Dr Brobbey.

He also did what the latter did; ignoring the party’s grievances procedure and choosing the media to do what is now perfectly known as ‘rumble-rousing’. In the particular case of Kwame Pianim, he made reference to certain things that the party and its executives should have done which they didn’t do for which reason we are where we are now.

He didn’t end there; he went further to imply that it was better to accept defeat than to go to court to challenge the results of the December elections. This is where he definitely got it all wrong!

Mr. Pianim, it should be recalled, was the NPP founding member who told the media that the late President Mills was incorruptible in circumstances which are still to be made clear.

My information is that, Mr. Pianim like Dr Wereko Brobbey has not deemed it yet necessary to approach the party to have a glance at the evidence it submitted to the Supreme Court but has decided to thwart the efforts of our case in court through his comments in the media.

I had the opportunity of receiving briefings on the evidence my party has presented to the Supreme Court with others last week at Osu and without prejudging the case, I don’t see why anybody could have such voluminous evidence of irregularities of all shapes and forms and not go to the Supreme Court!

Nana Addo and the NPP must be commended excessively for choosing the option of a court rather than choosing the path of chaos. Didn’t Mr. Kwame Pianim hear that two months after the declaration of the election results, accredited staff of the Electoral Commission, not men from Agbogloshie in Accra, were caught trying to validate a number of pink-sheets only when petitioners had submitted further and better particulars to the Supreme Court at the request of the EC?

Every day in NPP, some persons conduct themselves in ways that have the potential to divide us rather than unite us at this stage. They make statements which when the contents are subjected to thorough analysis, leave one to wonder what the overriding motive is in making such comments.

We have leaders we must respect but at times the very leaders we are expected to respect and honour make it difficult for us to understand certain statements they formulate.

I am also at this stage disappointed in the National Executives of the party. They don’t seem very firm. They seem to “fear” some persons in the party. Let Akilu Sayibu make a similar statement and the party will begin to contemplate dismissing me.

Dr Wereko Brobbey and Mr Kwame Pianim will say worse things denigrating the party and its decision to go to court and some party members will even see sense in it.

The time has come for the party to start cracking the whip. At times it is good to throw away adults with sharp teeth. We are always told the party is bigger than any individual. Is it true in the face of current rebellion coming from founding members?

Akilu Sayibu

Email: Akilu.sayibu@live.uwe.ac.uk