I was quite puzzled to watch an unfolding drama
last Tuesday at the national headquarters of the ruling national democratic
congress. It was about a demonstration against the national security
co-ordinator,Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey. The demonstrators led by one Hajiah
Sherifatu
Sulley among other things claimed that the national security co-ordinator must
be removed from office.
Understandably, the whole saga has become
nauseating for many, especially for those who would prefer the NDC stay clear
of tendencies that can ruin the party’s chances in the 2012 general elections.
Still, this issue is too important nationally to fall victim to those who
believes that, it their duty to undermine the integrity of the national
security capo, and in the process make a fool out of all of us. As things
stand, there is hardly a day without some development in the NDC, and where
nothing new is emerging; there is always the appearance of a new intrigue to
muddy the waters and the chances of the party in next year’s general elections.
Whatever the motivation, it is obvious that Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome is on to
something, but it is within the NDC’s best interest to act in a manner that
advances the collective interest of the party above Woyome’s own political and
parochial agenda.
It cannot be that any one individual has so much
political clout and power to be able to commandeer an entire political party to
deploy both human and financial resources to fight what, on the face of it,
appears to be needless, futile but orchestrated attempts to undermine the
national security capo. As these petty parochial agenda of Mr. Woyome rages on,
some disquieting developments have begun emerging to threaten our peace of mind
and it must be stemmed before they blow us off our feet. I am even tempted to
infer from those happenings that Alfred Woyome is pushing our politics to the
lowest depths of depravity.
My first serious encounter with Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome
was at the recent national delegate congress of the NDC in Sunyani, where he
took it upon himself to ridicule President Rawlings on Asempa fm’s makeshift
studio at the congress ground, I had to intervene and the programme ended
abruptly. Ever since, I’ve followed with keen interest, his political
activities in and out of the Volta region.
The fact of the matter is that, what happened last
Tuesday was not just a contract demonstration, but a futile and orchestrated
attempt by Mr. Alfred Woyome to undermine the national security capo for his
parochial interest. The least said about the issues raised by the so-called
demonstrators, the better. The claim that Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey is using
his influence to get his son elected as the next Member of Parliament for Hohoe
North is only a decoy. Those of us who are involved in the politics of Hohoe
North and the Volta region for that matter, understands, what this intrigues is
all about. It is about Mr Alfred Woyome, who is not even an indigene of Hohoe
yet finds it appropriate to meddle in the politics of Hohoe North. Alfred
Woyome thinks the people of Hohoe North and the volta region for that matter,
must uphold his principles, principles we may not believe in but which serves
his petty parochial interest instead of advancing the cause of the collective.
Not too long ago, some
top party executives and elders from the Hohoe North constituency came down
very hard on Alfred Woyome for the unprecedented level of corruption and
bribery in the Hohoe Municipal assembly during the tenure of the ousted
Municipal Chief Executive, Victor Herman Condobrey. Ever since Victor Condobry, who
happens to be
the nephew of Woyome’ wife, a native of Gbi-kpeme, was removed, Alfred Woyome
has never forgiven those he claimed were behind the removal of his trusted
crony. The moment Mr. Condobrey was removed from office as Hohoe MCE, Alfred
Woyome started working against the constituency party chairman, Mr. Wonder
Boasilenu and the national security capo on suspicion that it was Lt. Col.
Gbevlo Lartey who masterminded the dismissal of the MCE. Ever since, Woyome has
consistently dabbled in all sort of shady activities to undermine the national
security capo. He was the brain behind the two unsuccessful demonstrations both
in Hohoe and Accra.
It was this same
Alfred Agbesi Woyome who contested the nationality of Kofi Adams, an aide to
president Rawlings and the deputy General Secretary of the NDC and Siki Abibu,
the Deputy Volta Regional Youth Organizer and subsequently incurred the wrath
of the people of the volta region.
To the best of my knowledge, before the NDC, Lt.
Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey was, and he will continue to be a pillar as far as the
NDC is concerned. Every party activists
knows Gbevlo’s contribution to the sustenance of the NDC since its formation,
and some of us will fight with our last drop of blood to ensure that the
dignity of this brave, courageous, affable and sefless man is not soiled by
characters like Alfred Woyome, who is desperately trying very hard to earn an
unsavory reputation.
I can confidently say that, Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo
Lartey has paid his dues to the NDC and Ghana so well that, the people of the
Volta region and Hohoe north for that matter will not hesitate to honour him
any day. Can we say the same of Alfred Woyome? No one needs to remind us of the
heroic feats of Lt. Col. Larry Gbevlo Lartey. We are fully aware of his
exploits both in the army and now as a national security capo.
Granted Gbevlo’s son is interested in the Hohoe
North seat, what is wrong about that? Is he not an indigene? Has he flouted any
party regulations? Who is Alfred Woyome to decide for the people of Hohoe
North? Neither Alfred Woyome nor the Hajia Sherifatu he contracted to
demonstrate against Gbevlo Lartey are indigenes of Hohoe North and he should do
himself and the people of volta region some good by shutting up if he has
nothing meaningful to contribute towards our forward march for a brighter and
sustainable future. If Woyome thinks he can
repeat the 2004 shenanigans in which Hon. Prince Jacob Hayibor emerged as the
MP in Hohoe north constituency, then he is in for a serious trouble. Unlike
Gbevlo Lartey, Woyome is an alien in terms of Hohoe politics and he must desist
from his thoughtless and infamous shenanigans against true sons and daughters
of the constituency.
Alfred Woyome should come out boldly and tell Ghanaians
a bit about himself and stop stirring the hornets’ nest in his agenda to
destroy the NDC. He should tell us what he did with his life when he was sent
to the US for an intelligence course? He should come out and tell Ghanaians the
sort of things he did in the US with his friend who later became the president
of Austria? Alfred Woyome should also tell us the circumstance that led to his
appointment as Vice Honorary Consul to the Austrian Embassy in Ghana? How possible is
it that, somebody who claims to be a onetime Vice Honorary Consul of Austria to
Ghana and a senior citizen would be involved in such dirty politics? Where lies
his moral authority? If Woyome thinks all of us are boot lickers and will sing
his praise or will tremble at his beck and call because of his so- called
wealth and influence then, he must rethink his position.
Today, all these self serving individuals want all of us to
worship them. The likes of Alfred Woyome claim, he is now the overlord of all
“voltarians”, and the political godfather of the region. He also claims that he
can make the president to appoint and disappoint and as such, he will do
anything to bring down Lt. Col. Colonel Gbevlo Lartey. The party leadership in the
region really is at great fault for
not censoring the likes of Alfred Woyome who has continue to bring the name of
the party into disrepute. Our intelligence and the love for the NDC is being
insulted. And there’s a huge burden of guilt to be laid at Alfred Woyome for
simply engaging in act that has the potential of breaking the NDC.The volta region
is and will continue to be the bedrock of the NDC. We must not
allow any self serving individuals to discredit great sons and daughters of the
region.
Without inciting violence or mayhem, it is high
time we mustered the strength and tenacity to “chase those baldheads such as Alfred
Woyome out of town”. The truth is, the mess he is creating for the party in the
volta region is not and cannot be good for the party and the country for that
matter. It has the potential of making an already bad situation worse. The
national headquarters must sit up and call the likes of Alfred Woyome to order.
Stubbornly sticking its neck, chest and head in support of some convenient
principle and then mounting a grand scheme of acting is inconsistent with the
principles of social justice. While democracy offers us the window to
communicate our views on any subject matter, it does not allow incendiary
provocations. The NDC cannot afford the cost of any human folly. The party just
returned from a very tortuous congress and there is a lot of work to be done in
order to retain power in the 2012 general elections. These needless agitations
will not serve anybody’s interest and the likes of Alfred Woyome must be told
in plain language that, enough is enough.
A fox that rejects the wise counsel of the wolf,
and pursues a fight with the hyena, has no one to blame, but himself, if the
hyena places its head between its locked jaws, and makes mince meat out of it.
What is implausible, today, could be inevitable, tomorrow. Alfred Woyome must
watch it.
I shall be back!
Emmanuel Dela Coffie
www.delacoffie.wordpress.com
