By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Folks, I have said it already that I don’t like the way Koku Anyidoho does politics to damage the NDC’s interests. Ever since he turned himself into a potentate at the Communication Directorate of government to bulldoze his way through the terrain and step on toes anyhow under the late Atta Mills, I haven’t liked him at all. If my wish were anything to go by, I would expect him to be flung far away from anything involving the NDC. But as his fate would have it, my wish couldn’t stand. That is why after being jettisoned when that Directorate was scrapped, he managed to regain some ground to become the NDC’s Deputy General Secretary. He has already angered some of us with his idiotic comments, one of which he has just made:
“…certain international actors are against the Mahama administration. These forces within the comity of nations, he announced on radio Tuesday, are working to ensure President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lose the 2016 elections.” (See http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Some-world-powers-want-Mahama-to-lose-2016-405346).
I needn’t belabour the negative implications of such an idiotic utterance. Suffice it to say that it suggests some creeping paranoia. The NDC is not known for that, and Anyidoho must be told the truth. The NDC emerged from the position of a third force in Ghanaian politics to become the most formidable one feared by the NPP, the CPP and the other mushroom parties. All that the NDC represents, they fear. So, why should Anyidoho now turn round to make utterances that cast the party in such a bad light?
How does he know that some in the international community don’t want the NDC to be retained at Election 2016? And only he knows? And if the reason against the NDC is that it is not market-friendly, what prevents it from changing that negative spot to become what Anyidoho thinks the NPP is, and which has made it more attractive to the so-called international community?
I find a lot wrong with idiotic utterances of this sort, especially at this time when the citizens are grappling with real existential problems and have become susceptible to manipulation by those peddling lies to undo the government. One expects anybody in any responsible position in the party and government to make guarded and reasonable utterances to court public goodwill or help the government claw back lost grounds because of its inability to fulfill the previous electioneering campaign promises or to solve problems and improve standards of living.
As of now, there is much anger against the government over its policies that are held as responsible for worsening living standards, high cost of utility services, high school fees—economic hardships, generally. The people are unhappy that the energy crisis hasn’t yet been solved to ease the burden on them. They are apprehensive of the future and wish that the government would redouble its efforts to tackle the challenges. If for nothing at all, they are enjoying peace and national stability under this administration and will be more wont to have this atmosphere than caving in to the wild messages and dreadful promises by its opponents. It's just a matter of living with the devil they know than the angel flying above them with fire in its belly to spit at them if allowed to have sway over their lives!
The NPP people may be promising honey-combs, but the people are already wary of such a guile, clearly because of the negative public posturing by the NPP camp, especially the intimidation, threatening of violence, and many more.
Thus, it is pointless for anybody in the NDC top echelons to begin going overboard as Anyidoho has done. It is more annoying for him to make such an utterance at this time that attention is expected to be turned to more positive things to boost the party’s electioneering campaign efforts.
What will this allegation bring to the NDC? It is more annoying for him not to have mentioned any name to substantiate his claim. Was he making the noise just to prove that he has any clout in the NDC or to prove that he is doing any communication-oriented work for the NDC, the government or President Mahama? Or is he still hallucinating that what he did at the Communication Directorate under the late Atta Mills could still be relevant to the NDC’s cause today or tomorrow? What a nuisance he is!!
Without hitting him any further, let me say that what will endear the NDC to the hearts of the electorate isn’t the kind of idiotic utterances made by Anyidoho but the party’s own ability to smooth its rough edges and reach out successfully to the electorate with convincing messages on what the government has been able to do so far, why it has failed to do so in some areas, and why it needs its mandate renewed so it can do better. Nothing else matters.
Beyond that point, the NDC leaders must look within themselves to see where they have failed in serving the needs of the party’s followers, especially the foot-soldiers doing the trench work but being neglected to become embittered. It is their ability to regain the confidence of such party followers that will strengthen their bond and move the party forward. No amount of wolf-crying as done by Anyidoho will win the NDC anything but scorn. It is high time that the wings of characters like Anyidoho were clipped to prevent them from flying astray to damage the party’s interests.
I shall return…
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