There is a standing that which says in arguing cases in court, lawyers bang on the law if it (the law) is on their side, and bang on the table if the law is not on their side. But unlike lawyers, politicians are ready to bang on just about anything within reach, no matter the cost.
And that seems to be exactly what is happening in the political arena, where many are purporting to be hunting for friends, while indeed they are creating enemies in their 'households'.
Consequently, an old guard of the Convention People's Party (CPP), Mr. Charles Tetteh Sawer, has cautioned that the creation of the numerous pockets of 'Friends Associations' within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) could sound the death knell of the ruling party.
Equally disturbing to the septuagenarian politician is the claims by the various aspiring presidential candidates to the effect that they acquired this and that, creating the impression that the party wouldn't have survived but for their 'magnanimity'.
Speaking to The Chronicle recently, Mr. Sawer, Director of Operations of the People's National Party (PNP) in the Eastern Region during the Third Republic, recalled that it was the "fight" among the Nkrumaists over similar trivialities such as who had the last words of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah on his sick bed, or who stayed with him the longest that tore the party into splinter groups and caused irreparable damage to this day.
He said the formation of Friends of Nana Akufo Addo (FONAA), Friends of Kofi Konadu Apraku (FOKKA) and Friends of Hackman (FOHACK) within the same political fraternity is the most dangerous development in the New Patriotic Party.
"The opposite of friendship is enmity; therefore if a member fails to associate with a particular faction of 'friends', does that make him an enemy of the pivoting personality?" he reasoned. "It is absurd to do that and it can create factions in the party."
Mr. Sawer frowned also on the recent claims by Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing and Member of Parliament for New Juabeng North, that he helped procure the party headquarters, and argued that such claims are shameful and unnecessary.
Mr. Sawer said from his political experience, he felt members' contributions to the party, which were supposed to be voluntary though, should have been left for members to check from the records instead of creating the impression that other members were called upon to render such services and had refused to answer the noble call to duty.
Another very popular NPP activist in Ashanti region, who would only love to be described as 'Old Soldier', fumed at the publication in the July 11, 2006 issue of The Daily Graphic, which was at the instance of the Special Assistance of the Minister, Mr. Mustapha Zacharia Cisse.
"My brother, as I travel around the country and sample opinions of ordinary people and delegates on this matter, those claims come across as the least of their worries," he pointed out. "They are not worried in their expectation of how much aspirants have personally contributed to buy a vehicle for the party or furnished an office; what they care about is what this leader proposes to and can do for them, and how different he or she would be from the leadership styles the country has witnessed," he noted.
Describing the galore of friendship camps as very threatening to the NPP, Old Soldier said it was unreasonable for serving Ministers to flout the president's directives and so pitiably tear apart the solid base of a 50-year-old political tradition, saying that very soon there would be Busia and Danquah factions in the party.
"I have been in this party long enough to know and understand how the formation of Friends of Mr. So-so-and-so and Friends of Dr. This-and-That has divided this party into hostile and antagonist internal camps. To this day, you can still hear unfortunate comments such as, 'Mene fitaa wo he', Asemasi nnka yen ho', even though we all belong to the same party.
"Sometimes, even amongst ourselves, we are more tolerant of the NDC than of our own. Obviously, we did not or have not learned our lessons yet. For those who have already formed Friends Clubs, Associations and Institutes, my simple questions are, does it mean those who are not members of your Friendship clubs are your enemies?
"Do you not need them? Do you not need their vote come the time for the congress and the national elections? Are they not members of the same family of believers? It is most unfortunate," he lectured.
Obviously disturbed by the development, he lamented, "This nation has too often been subjected to the rule of friendship cabals at the expense of our collective interests, competence and efficiency".
It would be recalled that on Tuesday 11th July 2006, The Daily Graphic quoted Cisse as saying his boss, the Juabeng North MP and a presidential aspirant, was a stalwart whose instrumentality helped the ruling party acquire its headquarters.
This statement has incurred the displeasure of political observers, who cautioned that it was not the best of things to say on a political platform, let alone to be published in the media.
"Mr. Owusu Agyeman had not only gone through the mill, he is also a staunch and dedicated party member who played a pivotal role during the formation of the NPP; and in addition to this, he was also very instrumental in the acquisition of the present party headquarters," the publication had quoted.
