Tuesday,
Sept. 3, 2013
The decision by Akufo-Addo to
accept (if even grudgingly) the verdict of the Supreme Court slamming shut the
door on his ambition to become Ghana’s President is having an unfortunate
sequel in his own NPP ranks. Ironic that he who has fought so hard but couldn’t
return the NPP to power should now be tagged as rocking the NPP’s boat. Any
surprise? Not at all to me.
Nobody needs any special skills
for probing into the NPP’s fabric to know how the Supreme Court’s verdict has
shaken the elephant family to its very foundation. The shaking has affected
fault lines and they are threatening to split open. The chasm/schism may be
evident in less than no time if the current happenings change for the worse.
Trust me, the little drops of water that are hitting those fault lines will
likely become a mighty ocean of trouble for the NPP unless something is done to
control the seepage.
The main bane of the party at
this stage is its leaders’ noisy and aggressively proprietary approach to
political power that the electorate repudiated at Election 2012 but which
Akufo-Addo and those supporting him dragged to the Supreme Court only to be
told the bitter truth on August 29. It’s an indignation that will be difficult
to outgrow. It has serious consequences.
Coping with the seemingly
humiliating and unbearable consequences needed to begin from somewhere; and it
did—from the stable of the party’s flagbearer. But Akufo-Addo’s decision to act
at the kairotic moment has added a new complexion to the dynamics of NPP
politics. When the Supreme Court sealed his doom with its verdict, he
unhesitatingly reacted, saying in an official statement that he took umbrage
with the ruling, regarded it as contrary to his expectation, but would accept
it in good faith so that “the country can move on”.
A bold statement to make,
considering all the traumatizing ramifications of the petition hearing.
Akufo-Addo’s heart-of-steel didn’t bend at this stage, but it might burst if
over-stretched; and he knew best how not to push himself to the wall. As the
wearer, only he knew where the shoe pinched the most. How much more pressure
could he soak up without crumbling?
To confirm his concession, he
went ahead to call President Mahama to congratulate him on winning the
electoral battle. He made it clear that he would not seek a review and would
instead take time off to rest and then return later into the limelight to
announce his future political direction. Will he return to pick up the pieces
or hang his gloves to go down in history as the one who fought and ran away in
the hope that he would live to fight another day? When again, knowing full well
that he can’t cheat Nature at 69 years? Or to become the Ghanaian version of the
Senegalese Abdulai Wade? Or the Zimbabwean Morgan Tsvangirai? Pick your
choice to predict his next move.
Apparently confronted by his
Avatar, he took those decisive steps without waiting for any input from the
National Executive Council. After all, he had been given the mandate to lead
the party to the polls twice in 2008 and 2012 and should have a free hand in
determining how to pick the pieces. He knew himself better at that stage than
anybody could claim to know him; and having realized the futility of trying to
run against the grain, he conceded defeat—an unexpected feat that earned him
commendation from diverse angles, including his arch political opponents and
the Nigerian evangelist, TB Joshua. By that act, some NDC bigwigs even
considered him a statesman, which is a whole different story altogether to be
told one day.
But his unilateral act of
conceding defeat and going ahead to endorse the Supreme Court’s legitimizing of
President Mahama’s Presidency hasn’t gone down well with those in his own party
who thought that he had jumped the gun or disarmed them (as the power brokers?).
Frederick F. Anto (Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP) didn’t hide his disapprobation
when he made public statements portraying Akufo-Addo as being rash for rushing
to foreclose the NPP’s protest against Election 2012. From his reaction, it is
clear that what Akufo-Addo did ran counter to the expectations and position of
the NEC.
Then, a statement from the
National Executive Council itself reinforced Anto’s stance to whittle the political
propriety and relevance of Akufo-Addo’s concession. The NEC said it wasn’t
consulted before Akufo-Addo conceded defeat to reinforce the Supreme Court’s
legitimizing of President Mahama’s victory at Election 2012. In consequence,
then, the NEC appointed a three-man committee to assess the Supreme Court’s
decision so that it can “advise” itself. Obviously, a collision course has been
carved.
If the committee suggests that
the NEC should not side with Akufo-Addo, what will happen? And can the NEC on
its own initiate steps for a review of the Supreme Court’s judgement? How will
such a move pan out? Or is it just a cunning way of letting sleeping dogs lie?
But, then, what impression won’t this move create about the NPP itself? That
its house is divided? Or that the status of Akufo-Addo as the flagbearer has
already been undermined and he should fade off? The near future is unclear at
this point.
To thicken the conundrum, Nii
Ayikoi Otoo also took umbrage at Akufo-Addo’s unilateral move, saying that he
was disappointed that Akufo-Addo rashly conceded defeat without considering the
significance of the error that Justice Atuguba had made in announcing the
stance of Justice Baffoe Bonnie regarding one of the major contentious aspects
of the NPP’s petition. Even though the Judicial Service corrected the error and
announced that the majority decision was no longer 6–3 but 5–4, the NPP camp still
thinks that it can wiggle its way through the maze if it calls for a review of
the Court’s judgement on that score.
Pertinent questions arising: Does Dr. Bawumia have his own political
fate without his status as Akufo-Addo's running mate? So, if the Presidential
Candidate himself doesn't want a review, can the running mate alone go for it?
To become what if the review favours the NPP?
Will
Dr. Bawumia then be elevated to Akufo-Addo's status in the workings of the
party or will Akufo-Addo be forced to take back his concession? or will the
review to be sought mean that the NPP leaders don't want Ghana to move on as
Akufo-Addo had indicated in his concession speech? Too many hot potatoes in
this NPP camp!!
By his “premature” admission, therefore,
Akufo-Addo has put spokes in the wheel of the NPP. Thus, Nii Otoo wasn’t happy
that Akufo-Addo’s concession closed the window of opportunity that a review of
the Supreme Court’s ruling might give him (as the perceived beneficiary of the
review) and the NPP to prevail. To him, the inclusion of two additional judges
at the review stage might be favourable to the NPP’s cause (After all, have we
not already been primed to know that there are numerous sympathizers of the NPP
in the judiciary? Thanks, Sammy Awuku). Alas, though, Akufo-Addo’s unilateral
move has ended it all on a sad note. What next for the NPP to do?
Against this background, some
wild speculations are rife that the other petitioners (Dr. Bawumia and the NPP
Chairman, Obetsebi-Lamptey) can sidestep Akufo-Addo and go for a review. I have
no idea what the legal implications of anything of this sort may be; but I can
say off-the-cuffs that it won’t fly.
Apparently, it won’t fly because
as the flagbearer of the NPP at Election 2012, Akufo-Addo was the first
(substantive) petitioner to whom Dr. Bawumia and Obetsebi-Lamptey were tagged
as co-petitioners. Without an Akufo-Addo
presence, there would be no recognition for Dr. Bawumia and Obetsebi-Lamptey.
So, why try to separate him from these “shadows” at this point that he has
extricated himself from the lot?
Indeed, the petition had more to
do with Akufo-Addo’s fate than those of the co-petitioners or the entire lot of
the NPP cabal. At the filing of the petition, we were told that it was not the
NPP that was contesting the matter but the three individuals. So, once Akufo-Addo
has pulled out, there is nothing that the NPP, Dr. Bawumia, and
Obetsebi-Lamptey can do to revive the case. In attempting to do so, will they
now come across as the main parties seeking power for Akufo-Addo’s sake? Not
clear or meaningful to me. Without an Akufo-Addo to hang on to, they are mere
nonentities. Or will they want to set a precedent that will be more valuable as
an exercise in futility than offering us anything worthwhile with which to grow
our democracy? What for?
What about the original petition
didn’t win the case for the NPP that a review will? New body of evidence or a
new direction to pursue in terms of focus (to turn attention to re-counting of
ballot papers instead of pink sheet exhibits)? A mere busy work!!
Any thought of sidestepping
Akufo-Addo in lieu of Dr. Bawumia and Obetsebi-Lamptey for a review will be
knotty. It is a matter of legal regimen, which I am not qualified to engage.
But my layman’s knowledge persuades me that once Akufo-Addo has expressed
disinterest in pursuing the matter any further—and has been acknowledged and praised
on that score—there is no way anything else will change the paradigm,
especially if not spearheaded by him.
The question is: Will he be
influenced to renege on his own words to now return to pick the pieces? With
what implications for him at this stage? That he stands a good chance of
prevailing over a reconstituted panel to review the petition in his favour? A
tall order!!
Let us be plain and honest to
admit that the main problems in Ghanaian politics are dishonesty and
unjustifiable mischief, which is why Ghanaian politics qualifies as “full of
nonsense and fit for only those who have the stomach for nonsense” (thanks to
the late A.A. Munufie, a die-hard Danquah-Busiast who shocked his fellow Rawlings
loathers in the 1990s to work with Rawlings till he passed on. Ex-President
Kufuor too did same in 1982, shocking the Danquah-Busia camp even if muted in
discussions).
The problem with the
Danquah-Busia elements goes beyond the defeat suffered by Akufo-Addo or the sharp
disapprobation for how he has handled the fallouts. This political tradition is
too fixated on arid “book politics”—seeing political office holding as an
entitlement, which its adherents pursue with venomous alacrity to antagonize
and alienate those who would otherwise have sympathized with their cause had
they been approached in a better manner and recognized for what and who they
are.
Obviously, they cannot easily rationalize
their electoral misfortunes for solution unless the party’s leaders at all
levels redefine their strategies for politicking. Too much sense of superiority
and entitlement to political power will continue to cast them in a bad light
and repel support for them. Aren’t the current happenings the harbinger to alert
them to what lies ahead of them in the near future that will confirm their
sorry fate? How will they address the problems that are brought to their
attention by people like us? With the usual insults, vain threats, and curses?
No matter how they approach
issues, they can’t miss the fact that the events characterizing Election 2012
and their petition hearing at the Supreme Court have begun a new chapter in
their chequered political history. If they now want to add the Akufo-Addo
factor to those circumstances, they will remain the architects of their own
doom. For those of us telling them as it is, we care less how they perceive us.
We have developed tough skins for their insults and will sit back to laugh our
hearts out when they squirm and blame the wrong people and factors for their
electoral woes.
Akufo-Addo has chosen how to
prepare for the future. Will the NPP leaders and followers also choose theirs
or struggle vainly to reverse the irreversible? As my friend puts it, “the way
is your front”!
I shall return…
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