NPP Petition: Countdown to Judgement Day (Part IV)

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Item Four: Aren’t the NPP members jumping the gun?

My good friends, I hear there is an air of optimism and streaks of ecstasy gripping the NPP camp that come August 29, victory is theirs to relish. They are said to be jubilating already that the Supreme Court will rule in their favour. We’ve been told that Kumasi is agog with that spirit, apparently because of how the local pro-NPP FM radio stations are fine-tuning issues and creating the impression that the petitioners are on a winning trail.

Then also, they are basing their optimism on pronouncements made by some high-ranking NDC personalities (Dr. Kwabena Adjei, NDC Chairman, and a Minister of State, Fiifi Kwetey) regarding “the winner-takes-all” syndrome to suggest that these NDC people are frightened by the onrushing bad news that the Supreme Court’s verdict will bring.

NPP Petition: Countdown to Judgement Day (Part III)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Item Three: The Supreme Court’s Verdict

As we inch toward August 29 for the Supreme Court’s verdict on the NPP’s petition challenging the legitimate victory of President Mahama at Election 2012, we hear pronouncements from across the political divide that the verdict will be determined in one of the following ways: a unanimous verdict, an 8:1 or 7:2 or 6:3 majority decision (thanks to Sam Okudzeto). But there is also a 5:4 possibility.

A unanimous decision means that all the 9 judges will take one common position to conclusively determine the winner or loser. Will this consensus be difficult to attain? Not so, if all the judges believe in the relevance of the franchise and the outcome of the kind of free, fair, and transparent elections that took place on December 7 and 8, 2012. Nothing creates any doubt about the genuineness of the polls and the results therefrom. So, why shouldn’t unanimity be the highest expectation?

NPP Petition: Countdown to Judgement Day (Part II)

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Item Two: The Petitioners’ Allegations in Perspective

Folks, we now turn attention to the substance of the petition that was laid before the Supreme Court by the petitioners to prove why it is not only couched in “bad faith” but also why the Supreme Court won’t uphold it. We need to backtrack to the very issues that informed the petition hearing. The petitioners initially laid before the Supreme Court a litany of allegations that they deemed to have compromised Election 2012 in favour of President Mahama.

According to their petition, the allegations included vote rigging, particularly the padding of votes to boost President Mahama’s standing; stealing of Akufo-Addo’s votes for President Mahama; collusion between the Electoral Commission, President Mahama and the NDC to rig the elections through manipulation of the electoral process; and many more. Based on these allegations, they organized a number of public forums, backed by their sub-groups (the “Let My Vote Count Alliance”, the Young Patriots, etc.) to mount incessant personal attacks on President Mahama and Dr. Afari Gyan.

Nobody Founded Ghana, Professor Mike Ocquaye!!

Friday, August 23, 2013

My good friends, the revisionist historians in the NPP are doing overtime to plaster history; but we won’t allow them to.

The NPP’s Professor Mike Ocquaye has just turned my crank with an abysmal lie that should be exposed for what it is and its potential to poison the minds of the ignorant ones. Why do these NPP leaders like misrepresenting issues to keep people ignorant for manipulation and exploitation? It is the same thing they have been doing with this petition hearing!!

NPP Petition: Countdown to Judgement Day (Part I)

Thursday, August 22, 2013

My good friends, it is exactly one week to Judgement Day when the Supreme Court will announce its verdict regarding the petition that Akufo-Addo, Dr. Bawumiah, and Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey filed against President Mahama and the Electoral Commission on the outcome of the Presidential Elections on December 7 and 8, 2012.

From now till that moment, I will articulate my convictions and explain them to justify why I am persuaded that the NPP petitioners will lose the case. I don’t intend to hijack the assignment from the 9 Supreme Court judges, but I want to articulate my viewpoints for discussion in readiness for the moment.

Ours is to share ideas and enlighten each other so that we won’t be misled by anybody. All this talk of peace must be reinforced with cogent analysis of issues to clear any fog in people’s minds.

When the “political bats” foul our air…

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

My good friends, you all know that a bat is neither a bird nor an animal, even though it bears features of either species. Hanging on trees with its head down, it sees only what it wants to see. In politics, too, we have bats—those who cannot cling to one particular political tradition with convictions that can stand the test of time. They go where their bread will be buttered.

The “political bats” are out of their nooks and crannies to be noticed for what they are—neither here nor there politically. Not even transfixed in the middle but turning left and right, depending on where the buttering of the bread is being done. Then, they pitch camp there and sell their political birthright for pottage.

It is time to take on these politicians

Friday, August 16, 2013

My good friends, Justice Atuguba made a very bold assertion yesterday when he identified Ghanaian politicians of Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie’s type as doing “illegal political galamsey”. He accused them of inciting their unwitting followers with inflammatory language and belligerent public posturing that threaten national peace, security, and stability.

According to him, such rabble-rousing activities also endanger harmony and prevent Ghanaians from enjoying their lives to the full. He cited instances when people just sell their property and emigrate from the country to preserve their lives and condemned those “illegal galamsey politicians” for being intemperate and causing needless panic and fear. I agree with him.

Of course, in each historical epoch, a people get the kind of government they deserve.