Watch these things, Alan, Wontumi

There is an Akan saying that ‘eko ba, na nsisi aba’, loosely translated as ‘cheating is part of fighting’. This is very true when it comes to political campaigns which mostly go with lies and unrealistic promises by candidates.

It was not too surprising that last week Alan Kojo Kyerematen, one of the seven candidates vying for the flag-bearer position of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), made one of the unrealistic promises one could imagine.  Definitely, he, on his own, can never fulfil this promise, hence he should not have made it a personal campaign promise. 

The outrage in his promise is not even whether it can be achieved or not, but it is self-serving. Why does he think what he promised last week on the Techiman-based Classic FM could only be done if he was elected the flag bearer of the party?

Speaking on the station as part of his campaign in the Brong Ahafo Region, he said when he was elected the party’s flag bearer, he would pay all party officers from the polling station to the national level. There are 10 regions, 275 constituencies and 26,002 polling stations. NPP sources say the party has five executive members in each polling station and 6,000 electoral area co-ordinators. These are to be added to the officers in the 275 constituencies and 10 regional offices. 

With all these officers nationwide, paying them at the minimum wage of GH¢6 a day means Alan Kyerematen would need over GH¢20 million monthly to pay their salaries.

The mockery of Kyerematen’s promise is that he will not pay the officers from his own account, but rather he intends to get six million NPP members and supporters to pay a GH¢1 monthly dues which would amount to GH¢6 million a month to pay the salaries. The question is, how can he pay over GH¢20 million from the GH¢6 million he expects to get every month from dues? Where is the difference going to come from?

Talk and campaign promises

The problem we have in this country is that talk and campaign promises are cheap and no one is held to account when they fail to fulfil their promises. I’m sure this has encouraged Alan Kyerematen to come up with this unrealistic campaign promise which he himself believes he can’t fulfil.

Alan Kyerematen claims to be a founder member of the NPP but he has never claimed that he left the party and re-entered, meaning his current membership status starts from when he was re-admitted. But the big question which he has always failed to answer is why he left the NPP at the time all hands were needed on deck.

Instead of Alan going round telling party delegates of what he knows in his heart that he can never do for them, why doesn’t he tell the delegates what he has done for the party? There are many people who have for many years contributed cash, vehicles and other items to the party for its election campaign and other activities, yet they never boast what they have done for the party.

Many know of contributions of people such as Kennedy Agyapong (the Assin Central MP), Stephen Ntim (who has tried a number of times to become the national chairman but failed) and many others whose contributions to the party are well known. There are also great men such as Justice Kusi Minkah-Premo whose contribution to the ordinary people in and outside the NPP is legendary yet he never seeks any public acclaim. 

Alan Kyerematen benefitted greatly from the NPP which made him ambassador and later a minister of state. How many party members has he given permanent employment? What legacy did he leave for the party as ambassador and Minister of Trade?

We need to improve our national politics, hence we must grow past unrealistic promises, which Alan Kyerematen is indulging in. His claim that he is the only one among the seven candidates who can attract floating voters is another vain campaign propaganda which has no basis. How did he arrive at that conclusion? Calling himself ‘Alan Cash’, saying that he is an ‘international man’ has never put food on anybody’s table. Just being an international man doesn’t win elections.

Has Alan Kyerematen considered the fact that in almost all the parties, foot soldiers who toil day and night, some dying through accidents, work harder than some elected officers? Does he know the work of party serial callers who have become part of our current party organisation and propaganda machinery? What would become of the foot soldiers and serial callers when he begins to pay elected officers and leave them out?

Questions for Alan Cash

There is no doubt Alan Kyerematen might have made some positive contributions to Ghana but I can assure him that many are ready to ask him some pertinent questions at the right time about his stewardship as ambassador and minister, particularly about his achievements and shortcomings. 

He must, therefore, campaign on his achievements and contribution to the party and its members and stop throwing dust into people’s eyes and making vain promises. He must know that Ghanaians and, for that matter, NPP members are not gullible to just swallow his campaign promises.

And if I may ask, how long will it take the Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako (aka Chairman Wontumi), to do mature politics? I had admired his youthfulness during the campaign for regional elections and thought that he was going to lead the party in the region with clearly thought-out policies, but my respect for him has evaporated.

Instead of coming up with effective plans which his party can adopt to win more votes in the Ashanti Region, the man wakes up and says anything in the name of politics. When a musician and his female friend had drowned and state institutions are involved in the search to find their bodies, Antwi Boasiako blames the President for not doing anything. Haba!

Does Antwi Boasiako expect President Mahama to put on his diving suit and start diving into the Volta River or the sea at Ada in search of the missing musician and the friend? What kind of cheap politics does he want to do as regional chairman of his party?

I have read from the media that he has been at Ada. What has been his impact there in the search for the missing musician and his friend? Mere political gimmick?

Antwi Boasiako must grow and stop this infantile politics which does not win any vote. We must at all times respect the Office of the President no matter who occupies it. 

Postscript

Mr Inspector-General of Police, having openly accepted that the Police Service had done some wrong in recent past, would you please respond to the children and widow of Adjei Akpor, the 22-year-old man your men killed at Adenta on January 6, 2014, and give them justice? This is the 27th week since the man was killed. Can any human rights lawyer come to my aid in fighting this case for the defenceless family?

The author is a Journalist and Political Scientist. He is the Head of the Department of Media and Communication Studies, Pentecost University College, Accra. - fasado@hotmail.com