<<Print>>

Gabby Asare Okyere Darko has given the clearest signal yet about the intention of Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, twice failed Presidential hopeful that he will be making what I will call a last attempt at the Presidency for the third time. It is said that he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. Perhaps Nana Addo is taking inspiration from this statement as he plans a comeback. Like many reasonable people, I have learnt to take a fight of my size, so that even if I lose, I will go home telling myself I tried. How embarrassing will it be, if I decide to enter a fight with my son, who will give me a thrashing of my life? To say it would be an embarrassment is an understatement, it will be a humiliation that will hunt me forever, that is what Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is doing to himself, entering into a fight with his son, President John Dramani Mahama. I think am being fair to myself and my readers, as I seem to be getting ahead of myself. Nana Addo must first of all, beat his colleagues in the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who are interested in contesting for the flagbearership position of the party, before he slugs it out with President Mahama. Those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it. John Dramani Mahama made history, when he took only three months to campaign to beat Nana Addo, who had spent almost five years campaigning. Nana Addo embarked upon so many tours across the country, from Thank You Tour, to Restoring Hope Tour, to Organize and Capture Tour etc. he is now a walking encyclopedia on local tourism in Ghana. All these efforts and criss-crossing the nook and cranny of the country, was to afford him the opportunity to meet Ghanaians from all walks of life, interact with them and appreciate their problems. It was to inform him as to what Ghanaians needed most, so that in fashioning out policies and programmes, you know what to take to them, in order for them to vote for you. After all the tours, Nana Addo only came home with one policy and that was his audacious �Free Senior Secondary School�. Every rationale human being, before he or she embarks on any mission, will seek the face and direction of God. Nana Addo after failing to win the 2008 elections, despite the rigorous campaign, came back in 2012 to tell us the �Battle is the Lord�s�. My question is that did Nana Addo seek the guidance and direction of God, before putting himself up for both the 2008 and 2012 elections? God is a fair God, he will not take what belongs to you and give it someone, so Nana Addo, by going to court to challenge the choice of God in President Mahama, is to say he has no faith in God. All his appearances in Churches and even his trip to Israel was all a charade, pretence, etc. I learnt a long time ago that, we have two types of worshipers, those who are religious and those who are spiritual. Those who are religious are doing so, because they seek reward and those who are spiritual are those who want to know God. What category of worshipers does Nana Addo belong to? Pretending to know God and worship him, because you want reward, is a journey only cowards travel. The NPP is in a dire need of a leader, who can bring hope to their people, by dealing decisively with the indiscipline that has engulfed the party, and Nana Addo has so far not shown that character. The party must signal a dawn of a new era, and vote for somebody with strong character, agile and young, who can bring discipline to the party, my money is on Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng. As things stand, there is nothing to indicate that the current leadership, including the Chairman and the General Secretary of the NPP are capable of undertaking that action of tremendous moral stamina, to cleanse the party of excess and put it on a sound footing to win any election. A leader who is desirous of peace for his country, and who is aware that declaring to run in 2016 is likely to burn up the polity, will do well to saved the country from his conflagration by sacrificing ambition for peace and progress, but Nana Addo will not. The party is more divided now than ever, since he assumed the leadership position. The party unfortunately is now fighting to extricate itself from been referred to as an �Akan� party. What is really in being a President that some will want to hang on, even when they are loathed by the people, when they have overstayed their political welcome? Back to the question, what is actually in being a President? It may not be necessary to attempt a catalogue of Presidents who didn�t see the need to continue in office, even when their people wished them on. History is replete with such instances. Nelson Mandela�s example might be too extraordinary to recall; but then he is a human being, different only by his commitment to principles. Nana Addo can learn from the example of Nelson Mandela, although one was a President and the other a �wanna be�. It is the principle of recognizing that they are people waiting in line, and that by staying too long, you are preventing others from making an attempt. More so when the people have on two occasions told you, they don�t want you. Nana Addo must redeem his promise to Alan Kyeremanteng, who was not motivated by person ambition, when in 2007, in Legon, during the Delegates Congress to elect a flagbearer, decided that it was Nana Addo�s time, so he conceded to him. If Nana Addo is a gentleman, he will hold Alan�s hand and tell his supporters and party people to vote for him. I don�t want to hear the argument about the Constitution of the party and Ghana, not barring him from contesting. But that principle must define anybody who wants to be President. We can vote for somebody at the age of 100, if that is what the country needs. In all events, if Nana Addo wants to write his name in gold, he has all the opportunity now to say enough is enough. I have tried twice and failed, lets somebody else go, because the party is not short of human resource. This will be effectual in inspiring a new sense of hope and endear him to the heart of the masses. Again, there has always been the tendency among some politicians to undermine their parties� structure and constitution for opportunistic reasons at the expense of social order. Such tendency is injurious to the nation�s political wellbeing. Therefore, political party�s institutions should be strengthened to stand above individuals� whims. Just because they is a road unfolding in front of you, doesn�t mean you have to take it. Nana Addo please concede before you are embarrassed. I want to remember you not as a failed Presidential candidate, but as a statesman, who walked on the sands of time, as far as strengthening and building of our democracy is concerned. Will history be made in Ghana, should Nana Addo attempt a round three and win, I doubt that very much.