Of Akufo-Addo, Jake Tribal War Tantrums & Prof. Kwesi Yanka’s ‘All Die Be Die’ Defense
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Akufo-Addo and party chairman, Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey have given credence to the belief that desperation for power is the mother of all madness.
Desperation indeed is driving Akufo-Addo and his party chairman real mad. This is quite evident in their tantrums about a tribal war, which they have indicated they intend to unleash in the 2012 elections by pitching the ‘majority’ Akan ethnic group against the rest of the ethnic groups in the country.
Jake’s claim that the recent Ivorian debacle, resulting from the electoral standoff between former President Laurent Gbagbo and President Allassane Ouatarra, was perpetuated by the ‘majority’ Akan ethnic group in that country, which ‘feat’ the Ghanaian majority Akans would replicate here, in Ghana, if the 2012 electoral results do not favour the NPP, is a clear indication that some people are indeed getting mad from desperation for political power.
Jake’s notice of an imminent tribal war after the 2012 elections comes yet as the clearest endorsement of the party’s drug-tainted flag bearer, Nana Akufo-Addo’s ‘all die be die’ policy, which stipulates his intention to egg-on an ethnic war in the country if the presidential election does not go in his favour in 2012.
Akufo-Addo was explicit when he said that ‘we Akans’ will not sit down to be cheated again in the elections. He stated categorically that the NDC uses a particular ethnic group to intimidate Akans in the country during elections and that this time round ‘yen Akanfuor’ will rise up in an ‘all die die be die’ fashion and kill and be killed in order for him to be able to fulfil his childhood dream of becoming President.
When Akufo-Addo outdoored his ‘all die be die’ policy in Koforidua while meeting party activists a few months ago, the people of Ghana witnessed a very bizarre scenario where political and intellectual dishonesty was exhibited to very absurd levels.
Aside the spirited effort initiated by party people to defend the indefensible bloody sermon preached by ‘Apostle All Die Be Die Akufo-Addo, all right thinking Ghanaians were shocked to the marrow when Prof Kwesi Yanka at his ‘Di Wo Fie Asem’ Lecture at the British Council Hall in Accra decided to endorse the bloody statement of his political friend.
With his intellectual garb on, Prof Yanka descended to the very low levels of NPP’s cheap defence of a rather explosive statement by their flagbearer, which portends an obvious danger for this country. The Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana explained Akufo-Addo’s ‘all die be die’ statement as a rallying call by him on his supporters to stand their ground in the face of intimidation during elections.
What Prof Yanka conveniently chose to ignore however was the fact that Akufo-Addo made a specific reference to the AKAN ETHNIC GROUP. Who was Prof Yanka trying to fool? Was he saying that Akufo-Addo’s supporters are only Akans or, in other words, all Akans support the NPP and Akufo-Addo?
Sadly, this is the level of intellectualism we are bombarded with from time to time from persons whose otherwise research and reach knowledge we are supposed to be tapping from to build a better and prosperous country that we can all be proud of. No wonder we are still where we are in our development as a people.
By sounding the tribal war drums so clearly in endorsing his flagbearer’s ‘all die be die policy statement’ Jake is not only telling Ghanaians that the NPP is preparing for war and that the party’s strongholds within the Akan areas are going to be the base of their dastardly plots against the rest of the country.
Like father, like son, so the saying goes. Jake Obetsebi-Lamtey is not just a politician. He is the son of the dreaded Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamtey of blessed memory, described as a main architect of the bomb throwing exploits of the Danquah-Busia terrorist political group against Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. If the son of a master strategist in the bomb throwing activities against Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah now indicates to the people of Ghana that in order to grab political power from the ruling government, there is going to be a tribal war, let nobody take him for a joke.
Jake is not only blasting his mouth off like a bazooka, together with his flagbearer. They have actually identified one ethnic group- the majority ethnic group in the country- which they are trying to pitch against the rest of the country’s ethnic groups.
However, it is incomprehensible that Akufo-Addo and Jake think that they can cause the NDC to be cowed on any day. Fact is, it will be the height of naivety on the part of the NPP and their blind supporters in the all die be die quest to think that the NDC will sit idly by and be intimidated by them on any occasion. The events of 2000 and 2004 happened within a certain peculiarly complex atmosphere to the disadvantage of the NDC. But the situation normalised in 2008.
With bare hands, the NDC was able to surmount the devastating intimidation of the NPP and restored some sanctity into the electoral and governance systems of this country. It was for this reason that the likes of NPP MP Atta Akyea and his gang, for example, did not succeed in littering the Volta region with dead bodies from the Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi to deceive the whole world that those dead bodies were NPP polling agents who were killed in the Volta region. Political madness at its worst. That was what made it impossible for the NPP to rig the 2008 elections yet again.
This should have served as good enough lesson for the ‘All Die Be Die’ Apostles to realise that there can be no common place for the outmoded methods they used in 2000 and 2004 to clinch victory in any election in Ghana.
Dr Kwesi Aning was apt in his assessment of the 2008 elections and any possibility of violence thereafter, albeit he would never have said this in the open. He was reported to have told American Embassy officials that the NPP and not the NDC, was in all likelihood to set Ghana ablaze should the 2008 elections not go in their favour because of the massive corruption and drug trafficking superintended over by former President Kufuor.
Fact is, the NPP did test the pores of the people of Ghana to that effect but did not take long in realising that they would all be dead meat if they dared push the patience of the people of Ghana any further.
Let the Prof Kwesi Yankas of this world refrain from the despicable disservice to the good people of Ghana and begin to be sincere to themselves for once and call their NPP friends to order. Because if things continue this way, we will all wake up one day and find out that truly, all die be die.
A word to a wise, is in The Catalyst.
