1. Dissatisfaction with leadership. Jake was shellacked. The delegates won.
Few will disagree that the major message coming out of this congress was dissatisfaction with the old executives. If there was one operative word to describe the whole congress it would be change. It is natural that after losing elections, parties take stock and do post mortems. Often times, losing executives bow down with loosing campaigns. Sometimes they stay. However the depth of antagonism and dissatisfaction with the leadership of the NPP going into the election this past weekend was palpable, readily evidenced by the 66 votes scored by Jake Obestebi Lamptey. This was not just discontent; it was angst. It was a shellacking. It was a drubbing. It was decisive. Lesson learned: voters shouldn’t be taken for granted.
2. President Kufuor’s loud silence/absence speaks volumes. Former president goes AWOL
No amount of excuses can justify President’s Kufuor’s absence from the conference. His “no show” at the congress cannot just be written away. Congresses are major events for most political parties but for a party in opposition it means more. Kufuor’s stature within the party cannot be overemphasized. He is the only living former president the party can boast of and his outsized influence both within and outside the party cannot just be wished away. Yet the man who gave the NPP their only electoral victories since Ghana’s return to democracy after years of military rule decided to abstain. I am not privy to insider information but there seem to be more to this than meets the eye. The current NPP crop and John Kufuor need to enter into a marriage of convenience. No one can say for sure if the NPP can win an election without Kufuor but I think the former president’s services to the party is crucial if not indispensable.
3. Factionalism: the big elephant within the NPP
It is true that every party has its own internal squabble but the depth and extent to which these wrangling played out in the public domain were a bit disappointing. Not only has the party given ammunition to their opponents but it has gone a long way to divide an already weak party. When you compare the opposition NPP of today against the opposition NPP of the early 90s, one cannot help but see a big abyss. The party has so far failed miserably to live up to its role as alternative policy shop or government in waiting. Competition is a major feature of democracy but when elections are over we expect the opposition party to serve as a true bulwark against incumbent extravagance and beyond that, offer alternative ways to solve the countries teeming problems. Rather what we’ve seen is an avalanche of personality politics with little substance. This is bad for NPP as it is for the nation.
4. Testosterone rules. Women have a long way to go
That the only female representation in the list of ten national executives came by way of the default women’s organizer position is a pretty discouraging sign for women’s participation in politics. For all the noise made about educational parity, looks like not much has changed. Ghanaian politics is still a field populated and dominated by men.
5. Competence won over loyalty.
One of the words that gained currency throughout the congress was competence. Delegate after delegate kept saying they wanted to elect men and women of competence. Whether this was a verdict over the performance of the incumbent executives was anybody’s guess. At the end of the day the delegates passed up men like Mr Ntim who have sought the chairmanship a couple of times to elect a first time challenger.
By: Etse Sikanku/citifmonline.com/Ghana