The Defeat Of NPP: Na Who Cause Am?

 

The NPP has lost the presidential and the parliamentary elections in 2024 General Election and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate has conceded the defeat. In conceding defeat, he has demonstrated his humility and belief in the democratic process, for it is easy to win elections democratically but difficult to prove one’s faith in it.

It must be noted that Dr. Bawumia did not concede defeat based on the results declared by the Electoral Commission (EC) but based on internally generated results of the NPP which at the time of his declaration, had almost been completed ahead of the EC.

When NPP lost 2008 elections to President Mills, President Kufour was subjected to insults and humiliation but later declared a hero by popular and public opinion. I think the same fate awaits President Akufo-Addo who may be judged the worst president ever to rule Ghana, but posterity will restore him as a hero, but until then, the President must brace himself for the insults, condemnation and humiliation that await him.

Defeats are painful but necessary to mend our ways. It is, therefore, necessary for the party to sit down and do a thorough post-mortem to identify the causes of the embarrassing defeat. Notwithstanding the defeat, there is enough evidence to prove that President Akufo-Addo has taken the country’s human and material development to a different level.

Let me, at this stage, take the opportunity to congratulate the NDC for their victory and wish them well in the next four years. We hope that all the promises they have made would be fulfilled and sooner or later, Ghana would be a pleasant place to live, and the market would be flooded with cheap commodities especially, chicken and eggs.

There are many developmental issues which Ghanaians will be following with keen interest as regards what the NDC will do. It will not take too long, and the euphoria will die down and Ghanaians will be able to assess whether they have made the right choice or not, meanwhile let the celebrations continue. Political victory is sweet, but it is sweeter for the few who will be honoured with ministerial and other high government appointments. but for the majority, hmmm.

Ghanaians will be following the resetting of Ghana with its 24-hour economy to the Promised Land. There will be no more Galamsay, no more unwholesome food to SHS students, the appreciation of the foreign exchange where the cedi could be exchanged for GH¢6 to the dollar, the LGQBT law would be signed immediately the President is sworn into office and many others.

The previous four years has afforded the incoming President all the experience he needs to execute his functions with perfection and all his actions will be closely monitored. Daniels 2:21 says, “And he changes times and seasons, he removes kings and installs kings, he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.” Ghanaians must, therefore, accept the new changes and look forward for to the challenges ahead.

Prior to the elections, so many ugly noises had been made by the NDC about the Electoral Commission (EC) rigging the elections for the NPP and threatened mayhem. Ironically, the election has been peaceful despite some isolated incidents, and the security agencies deserve some commendation for keeping the peace. The serene atmosphere in many regional capitals after Dr. Bawumia conceded defeat reminds me of similar situations that took place after President Mills’ victory in 2008, and it is too early to attribute reasons for the phenomenon, but time will tell.

Since COVID-19, 40 out of 54 in Western democracies have lost elections because of economic difficulties attributed to the pandemic. The issues that have driven voter discontent are varied but in all cases the causes have been attributed to economic difficulties especially high prices of goods and services. Many voters are frustrated with their political leaders viewing them as out of touch with realities and many opposition parties have capitalised on the economic difficulties to win elections, but unfortunately, many economic problems remain unresolved.

In Ghana, the incoming president campaigned that a litre of gasolineis being sold at GH¢15 as against GH¢6, and a bag of cement at GH¢100 as against GH¢25 at the time he was president. Many Ghanaians will be expecting immediate reduction of prices of many commodities and whether this can be done or not remains to be seen. Late President Mills promised to reduce fuel drastically but when he ascended the throne, fuel was increased drastically.  The expectations of Ghanaians are very high, and many Ghanaians are hoping solutions will be found to ease their suffering soon.

Luckily the NDC has absolute majority in parliament to do what it pleases, and Ghanaians will be watching what they will do with its enormous powers. Yes, the next four years will be interesting as Ghanaians await the magic wand of the NDC to extricate them from the current economic quagmire and only time will tell.

The NPP’s defeat is self-inflicted because some concerns of the public were ignored by the government. For example, the government did not address the perception of some Ghanaians that the government was being run as a family business with the “Akim Mafia- Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta, Asante Bediatuo and Gabby Okyere-Darko (GOD),” in absolute control of governance.

Nothing was done to disabuse the minds of the public of alleged corrupt practices these Mafiosi were involved in. The refusal of government to respond to public outcry for ministerial reshuffle and the accusation of corruption were not effectively handled to the satisfaction of many Ghanaians. Many citizens found it extremely difficult to understand why the President refused to reshuffle some ministers even though their performances had been found to be wanting.

In 2022, when ninety (90) patriotic MPs stood up and asked the President to fire the Minister of Finance, the President refused, and truly that was a clarion call because the MPs were speaking on behalf of the ninety constituencies they represented. The President’s refusal to heed the advice of firing the ninety MPs was seen by many party faithful as a stab in the back of the NPP.

Many felt the president was protecting “his family” against the interest of the party and this has badly reflected in the parliamentary results. There were rumours of one Michael Bediako, a nephew of the Minister of Finance who served him as a personal assistant, and removed from office after it was alleged that he made away with some millions of dollars.

Such allegations against an aide of Minister of Finance in a country where finances were in turmoil should have been taken seriously. The rumours should have been investigated and results published to counter the allegation. The rumour was ignored and swept under the carpet but the impression it created in the minds of many Ghanaians remained.

Again, rumours of presidential staffers holding expensive hotel birthday celebrations in foreign countries, some which were splashed on the social media were ignored and nothing was done to combat the bad publicity. The refusal of the presidency to investigate these allegations tarnished the reputation of the party and the government and the consequence is the poor election results we see today.

The results of the elections clearly reflect the poor performance of the party executives and parliamentary candidates, no matter the excuses they give. From all indications, their performances were poor and fell below expectation. I don’t want to mention names but the display of arrogance in the performance of some executives were too much. Many parliamentary candidates did not campaign well, and their performance fell below expectations.

The success of every election depends on the selection and training of polling station executives who must be well motivated. The results confirm that this responsibility was badly handled, and all executives and parliamentary candidates must bow down their heads in shame.

Mr. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen must be celebrating the devastation of the NPP, but his performance has confirmed that he is no force in national politics, and he should “cry his own cry” because the votes he obtained are a disgrace to his image and not worth discussing.

The violence after the election should not surprise Ghanaians. The supporters of the party have been fed with lies and propaganda which has energised them to do what they believe is a way of paying back NPP for whatever reasons. Besides, those who voted for the NDC should know that violence is synonymous with the party’s doctrine and celebrating their victory with violence should not surprise anyone.

Vandalising government and NPP offices, looting government warehouses, and destroying government properties are not the best ways to demonstrate the new governance, but this is NDC.

Yes, digitalisation has suffered a serious setback, but this is temporal and come 2028, it will be revived.

 

By Brig-Gen (Rtd) J. Odei

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