Nana Addo’s incompetence and vindictiveness will destroy NPP – Twum Boafo
Having inherited a united party that had won two consecutive elections, it takes a highly incompetent and vindictive leader as Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to bring the New Patriotic Party to its present ebb.
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But the signs have been clear on the wall that voting Nana Akufo-Addo as leader was only going to tear the NPP apart and no one can feign surprise at current happenings in Ghana’s largest opposition party, according to the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Free Zones Board, Kwadwo Twum Boafo.
Twum-Boafo made the observations on Alhaji and Alhaji, the political and current affairs talk show on Radio Gold on Saturday in his contribution to a discussion of the suspension of Mr. Paul Afoko as NPP national chairman, saying he had long told the NPP that they would follow their leader into destruction.
He said the NPP, like most other parties, have generations of elements of dissatisfaction, “but what a good leader does is to hold on to your party by encouraging people to eschew the factionalism because at the end of the day what you want is political power.”
That, he said, was a job former President J.A. Kufuor did excellently, uniting the NPP for two successful elections.
“Unfortunately for the NPP, they handed it over to Nana Akufo-Addo and you see, never in the history of contemporary politics has there been this level of incompetence by any political leader as this, this side of the Sahara. It has never happened before.
“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo took over a party that had won elections in six regions in this country. He promptly lost the election, and as we speak now, the NPP are only able to win elections in two regions. Busia’s hometown of Wenchi, President Mahama won. (Busia was a founding father of the political tradition that birthed the NPP). So when your opponents are coming to your backyard and winning elections in the manner in which the NDC is winning elections, it says something about you.”
According to Twum Boafo, Nana Addo has decided to live by his all-die-be-die mantra and so is willing to destroy his party only in so far as he gets what he wants, explaining that having won his flagbearer mandate by a whopping 94 per cent, the ongoing agitations in the NPP is a manifestation that Nana Addo cannot deal with even the six percent dissent in his party.
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He said in the unlikely ‘catastrophe’ that Nana Addo wins the 2016 presidential election, what it means is that he would victimize those of the populace that would not vote for him.
“Any presidential candidate who thinks that they can run an election campaign without their national chairman and general secretary, clearly doesn’t know anything about politics. But you see it is not that Nana Addo doesn’t know anything about politics, he knows everything about politics but it is the inner desire within him to seek vindictiveness, no matter the cost. Because Nana Addo was not in favour of Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong. He preferred Sir John and Fred Oware,” said Twum-Boafo.
He said ever since the two were elected in a democratic election, Nana Addo has demonstrated his dislike for the choice and that all the circus going on in the party are at his behest, or he would have ordered an end to it.
Happy at the circus
Twum Boafo would not hide his joy at the state of affairs in the NPP, saying as an NDC person, he was happy because he personally believed the NPP’s political tradition has been the single most destructive element to impede Ghana’s development.
“They have had the history of going to foreigners to badmouth this country; they have aided foreign powers to take over the reins of government in this country; at every turn in this country they have sought to use violence and threaten us with violence. How many times has Nana Addo not threatened us with violence? Three days ago he threatened us with violence in a foreign land. This is the man who wants to take over the reins of this country.”
Twum Boafo said it was even more shocking, surprising but beyond coincidence that it appeared that every time something happens in the NPP leadership, it does so when Nana Addo is not in the country. “It is a carefully contrived situation.”
He wondered how a flagbearer leaves this country and while he is out, the first vice chairman goes to organize a meeting of the National Executive to depose the chairman, an action that has since been endorsed by the flagbearer.
“So this tells you about the calibre of leadership that the NPP have.”
Listen to Kwadwo Twum Boafo in the attached audio
{mp3}twum_boafo_nana_addo{/mp3}
It's not the best
Mr. Philip Langdon, a member of the NPP and also a discussant, said the developments in the party had not made many of its members happy, especially for the many who had hoped that the issues would have been resolved long before.
He said as a party member, he was not happy the way things had gone but he would not want to speak much on it, especially being an internal matter of the party. He expressed hope that internal processes would resolve the matter, and urged his party members not to justify the action by pointing to the National Democratic Congress’ own treatment of its former chairman, Dr. Obed Asamoa, saying if it was wrong for the NDC, it cannot be right for the NPP.
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“It is not the best news because Paul won massively, the party knew so many goings on in the run up to that congress that we had in Tamale and it was the expectation and prayer of the delegates that look, no matter what, this is the man we want, everybody work together and let’s move on. But it appears as though from day one, there were some elements who were not happy or have not been happy, and so therefore have seen one thing wrong or the other with everything Paul has done along the line. There has been no chairman of the New Patriotic Party since its establishment even from the days of the Progress Party that has all have well with him with everybody. No leader anywhere can expect to satisfy everybody but when some decide to see nothing good in anything that anybody does, or any particular does, these are the issues.”
Listen to Philip Langdon in the attached audio
{mp3}philip_langdon{/mp3}