Originally posted on another blog on 02/09/2012
The uttering of an utterance presupposes an
utterer,
(the thinking of a thought a thinker, the perceiving ofa perception a perceiver).
Moshe Ron (1981: 26)
Ok,
so the ndc have finally held their emergency Congress in the Garden City,
Kumasi. They displayed a great sense of political acumen by killing two birds
with one stone. Mahama got 99.5! A 100% would have been criminal, to say the
least! Kudos to the delegates. Listening to events online up here in the
Eternal City, I was impressed. I'd feel the excitement, the hustle and bustle,
the thrill and the exhilaration. The turn out was, I gather from the reports
and what friends later told me, to use ndc lexicon, "gargantuan and
unprecedented". But let no one be deceived: it takes more effort to
translate crowds into votes. That's a different ball game with its own
dynamics. Good thing though is that, the ndc is an old dog in how to win elections;
it's not a puppy!
Most
people were there to see John Mahama and Amissah Arthur for the first
time. Nonetheless, it's a moral fillip for party members who're
struggling to come to terms with the death of old Prof. They can go into this
campaign on the wings of this massive display of solidarity. On the other hand, I
believe a few npp guys went scrambling for explanations on how in the name of
the Danquah-Bush tradition the ndc could garner such a crowd in Kumasi
of all places. I almost added Dombo! It doesn't matter if they can't find a
place for the guy from the north in the great tradition. Anyway, tradition is
an invention! So, Dombo will not be too bothered with me for not adding his
name. In his weariness, he may even inquire: "How long can they stretch
the hyphen, my son?" My response: "Not too long, sir."
Now
to substance. As usual no one knew what Papa Jay had up his sleeve. Now we
know. Nothing different from his usual preachy and know it all attitude!
The guy has become so painfully predictable! To confess, I used to admire the
old man. He lost it in the manner he hounded the good Prof. Truth be told, we may not all
agree with Prof's cool attitude. But let's face it: one good turn deserves
another. If Papa Jay wouldn't have tolerated such nuisance when he was leader, how on earth did he come to the conclusion that it was right for him
to blatantly cast insinuations and innuendos on the Prof! We all know Papa Jay
is not a saint. I detest him when tries to portray himself as one. I love Papa Jay,
the sinner. God loves me not because I'm a saint but because I'm a sinner. Any
claims to sainthood in the affairs of this world is presumptuous. His speech
was simply divisive: calling young Ministers "babies with sharp
teeth." Whose teeth is sharper than his wife and Kofi Adams? He spoke
about how he overworked himself for the party during the last elections. We
must congratulate him for that. But he was disingenuous; he mentions that
precisely to subtly drive home the point that his efforts have not been
appreciated. How petty can a former president descend!
Well,
I read a news item on myjoyonline.com that said Elvis Afriyi declared he
supported Papa Jay's statement that "no work, no chop". We all agree.
That's the way things should go. But let's be objective and ask Papa J:
"Sir, how many of the people who worked for you all through your
presidency "chopped?" Hypocrisy at its best! Papa Jay and some ndc
people seem to believe that the Prof won the last elections because of Papa J.
False. I voted for the first time in my life in 2008 because I was convinced
that the Prof was the right man. It'd nothing to do with Papa Jay. I was
convinced that Prof will be be own man. He didn't disappoint. If the ndc wins the
coming elections, it will not be because Papa Jay campaigned for the party.
It'll be because of the "unprecedented" infrastructural projects that
many communities have witnessed during Mills's term. If fact, I've a feeling
that, if Papa J. joins the campaign trail, it'll be a disaster. Wait in the
scorching sun for hours to elect another ndc president for Mr. Rawlings to
publicly humiliate him?
I
believe the best speech at the Congress was given by Amissah Arthur. He
emphasized the importance of fresh ideas, new blood, and by extension, the
inclusion of babies with teeth! That's the future. Rawlings is the past. If the
supposed babies were praising Mr. Rawlings to the heavens like Kofi Adams has
never failed to do, would he have been angry with them? The youth will join the
Party because they believe they've opportunities, not because a founder has
been turned into a demigod. Although I don't admire Kwaku Baako's politics, I
like him for one thing: everything he has said about Rawlings is true.
Except, of course, when was deceived into saying the old man had foreign
accounts. His latest comment on Rawlings is apt
Papa Jay should learn from leaders like Clinton and Mandela. And even from Bush Jr. Blair, Kufour and Obassanjo.
The future is always bright for GH
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