It is a remarkable achievement and a joyous moment for us all that the NPP in a rather civilized and peaceful exercise has successfully elected Nana Akuffo-Addo as the party’s candidate to contest the 2012 presidential elections. Now we can all relax and assure ourselves of an NPP victory in 2012.
In the preparation for the last presidential campaigns (2008), Hon Obestebi Lamptey, the current NPP national chairman, strongly advised that a united front would be required towards victory for the party. Hon. Lamptey warned further of a potential perpetration of lawless treatment against the NPP stalwarts by the NDC should a lack of unity in the party pave the way for NDC victory.
The precision of Hon. Lamptey’s prediction turned out very sharp. The lawlessness of the NDC thugs has no bounds and it has no respect for personality. You all recall how some of our NPP leaders who are world class highly distinguished statesmen were treated with unimaginable lawlessness and disdainful disrespect for no justification as soon as the NDC was sworn into office. Hon. Lamptey was right and NPP should have heeded his warning.
I still believe very strongly that if NPP had adopted a better campaign strategy, there was no way that the NDC would have won the last presidential election, considering the slimness of the margin by which NPP lost. We failed to use adequately the effective and strategic advantages of all the human resource elements associated with our incumbency status, during a greater portion of the campaign. That approach, whether intentional or not was ineffectual and it must be discarded for better results in 2012. Although we are currently not in incumbency, these human resource advantages are still at our disposal and we must apply them for 2012.
We thank Ghanaweb for providing a forum where we can express moral support for the NPP. However, elections are not run with moral support alone, they are run with money also. I question if the NPP has established an effective financial donation system to benefit the party, especially for channeling donations from us those living outside Ghana? Political parties in the USA frequently solicit financial donations from party faithfuls through the e-mail by credit card payments. With the click of a computer button the entire transaction is completed. Does the NPP have an identical system in place, which could facilitate and augment financial donations to the party especially from us those outside Ghana?
Another important issue is that of an effectual method for communication between party and loyalists. As some of you who are old enough may remember, our predecessor, The Progress Party (1969-1972), had a news paper designated exclusively to party issues. In today’s electronic information age, the web site has become an even more effective tool to reaching out to the public. The NPP should seriously consider establishing a web site, if the party does not have one. The advantages of a web site would include keeping party loyalists well informed of party agenda, the financial health of the party as well as financial donation methods that could be used for loyalists in the diaspora to benefit the party.
The foregoing has identified some factors that could have contributed to the NPP loss, the major one of which was the inadequate application of the human resource advantages that were associated with our incumbency status. The possible contribution by a lack of an effectual method for channeling financial donations to the party, from loyalists in the diaspora should not be underestimated either.
You may question the relevance of the caption of this posting to the rest of the body. Yesterday (August 7th, 2010), Myjoy On Line, published the story of Nana’s victory under the caption: “Nana Addo: This time I will not disappoint”. Implicit in this caption is the assumption of some self reproach by Nana for NPP’s loss in the 2008 race. While I appreciate Nana’s humility, I do not think that it is fair for him to unjustifiably take onto himself, the blame for the party’s 2008 loss.
Nana Akuffo-Addo did the best he could and his efforts should have been adequately supplemented by our support and contributions. Unfortunately, this support system from us was not adequate. In addition, some overhaul of the party’s operations may be needed to establish greater relation between party and loyalist and to pave a smooth way for loyalists in the diaspora to help salvage the financial health of the party. We are the ones who disappointed him. Nana needs not take blame for the outcome of the race. You and I have to provide stronger and better support for Nana for better results in 2012. To put my money where my mouth is, I am pledging a financial contribution to Nana’s campaign and you should do the same.
Thus, the caption of the MyjoyOnline article (August 7th, 2010) should have read:
“Nana Addo: Do not disappoint me a second time”.
