Sunday 25 January 2009

Alan Will Be a Wrong Choice for the 2012 Election

Oh if Alan Cash is nominated which will never be the case, I will gladly watch Mills win for the second time. And this time the difference will be embarrassing. No one (and I mean delegate) has endorsed anyone for presidential candidacy yet. There are only calls. And these calls are coming from people. Nana being the politician that he is has held thanksgiving rallies all over the country. And it is through these rallies that you realize his support for presidential candidacy for the 2012 election. These calls only go to prove the point I echoed in my article (Why We Lost the Election) about how the party was not united behind Nana. I attribute the cause to the Alan Camp. The election just ended some 28 days ago; and all I hear is calls for Alan to be the party's presidential candidate in 2012. That is wrong.

One thing I noticed about Alan is that he incites confusion in the party. Members of the NPP are not stupid. Ok maybe the members are but the delegates who are loyal to the party are not stupid. Alan comes from nowhere and joins the 18 aspirants, throws cash around and contests for their mandate for the presidential candidacy. When he loses or rather concedes, he threatens to resign from the party. He was advised otherwise by his primary supporter, Kufuor. And also certain promises were made to him. Where is the loyalty? This shows that all he cares about is being president at the expense of the party. How can such a man lead the party let alone the whole country?

Another thing we need to realize is the Ashantis don't rule the country or even the Akan kingdom. With the tribal effect still in play in Ghanaian politics, it is less likely an Ashanti will become president in the near future. Should Alan stand, he will definitely lose the Akyem votes and the Eastern Region will not be as strong a hold as it was in the 2008 election. Once again visit my blog page to understand why I say that. Politics is a funny game. You play with it as it comes hence Obama's success. All factors were in his favor at the time.

Finally, Alan may be a very good person with loads of experience as a lawyer and economist or whatever he does. He was tipped some years back by Time magazine as one of the global leaders of the future. All these are good attributes but the man lacks political experience. He is not a politician. This is a person who thinks winning an election is about distributing money. As to where the money came from is still questionable. Back to my political experience argument, he has not been in a position of responsibility. He hasn't been in position where he would be accountable to the electorate who gave him their mandate. He should run for MP or Council of State. If he wins and runs his constituency or region well, then I will have some faith in him as a politician. I encourage you to take a look at this link (Alan Kyerematen's Successful Palace Coup).

An alternative to Nana Addo will be Dan Botwe. He just got elected to parliament. I have been impressed by his political achievements so far. He has done a lot for the party. He is loyal and clever. Understands politics and he's not even a lawyer. He will be a better candidate than Alan considering his background and experience. He will be my choice after Nana Addo.


Written and Edited by Kow A. Essuman Esq. LL.B. Hons, Barrister. All comments, corrections and contributions should be sent to kaessuman@yahoo.com.


These are the thoughts and observations of Kow A. Essuman Esq. LL.B. Hons, Barrister. Any attempt to reproduce all or any part of this article without the express permission of the above named person shall be an infringement of intellectual property laws; following which the author reserves the right to commence an action/suit against any such person (s) or body for breach of copyright and/or any other action/suit the author sees fit.

7 comments:

  1. okay... interesting stuff there...

    but i just believe that both Alan and Nana are not fit to lead Ghana...

    Alan because of the money factor...and this would play against him me think, if he stands... as for loyalty issues, well i guess that is left for party faithfuls...

    Nana also because he has not demonstrated enough that he's a unifier... the fact that he did not concede the 2008 run-off i'm sure would work against him...he shows loyalty to party but that is where it ends...in the party...the larger Ghanaian people seek more than party...

    I would go for Dan Botwe! he has demonstrated me think, that he is a man of his own... he speaks his mind on serious national issues... examples being when he declined to speak for Kufuor about Kufuor's son's hotel purchase saying that was a private matter for Kufuor...after which Kufuor sacked him as info minister... and also recently when he has come out to rubbish parliament for passing the ex-gratia for Kufuor and Co. He also spoke against the money-politics during the npp primaries...

    and i think that very little bad is said about him... he's someone who clearly reaches across party lines...

    but i know also that his name was mentioned during matters arising in EC strong room in the heat of the 2008 run-off... however, Dan i'm sure can rise above those... he just seems to display that ok 'lets move on character'...

    just my loose thinking as usual... time and space will tell

    cheers!

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  2. i forgot to add that yes sure Dan has the party loyalty 'plus' also going for him... so even within the party he would find considerable favour...

    ok...enough from me!

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  3. Interesting. Just heard on Joy FM, this morning, that Alan's supporters are asking for early primaries, and this might endanger Nana's 2012 ambitions. I agree about Alan's seeming lack of political achievement.

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  4. I agree entirely with both of you or maybe the other way round, you agree with me...lol...But Novisi, you will agree with me even further that conceding an election on Nana's part was a big issue. He may have wanted to concede but there were some factors preventing him from doing so. These include letting the party down and maybe the hope of there being a change or the cry for electoral fraud standing. I personally think concession would have harmed him. Besides I think it did more good to democracy in Ghana and proved to the world that in the midst of anxiety, we Ghanaians prefer peace over violence.

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  5. don't mind that i said my comments were enough...

    sure i agree that the concession 'thing' was and is a big issue... it's a tricky one really...it all depends (on what i don't know)!

    i forgot to add that another plus for Dan is the fact that he's youthful...very much so... i hope more "guts-ful" ones like him step up... my own boss (name withheld 'crèche' reasons) is another... i'd love to see him as prez!

    meanwhile,
    i'd love to push the Alan not being a politician idea a bit... i think i have a fair idea 'the kinds we call politicians' but i have a basic idea of this since i moved out of crèche at least...(hehe!) and that idea is that everyone is just a politician...so Alan is a politician... the issue i believe is how one plays his cards... having been around for long (in the power broking circles) doesn't just qualify one as a politician ABOVE others me think... Nkrumah was an outsider for eg. and just so has his daughter turned out to be in 2008 amidst all the Nkrumah "name-starter"! for her...

    more cheers!

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  6. great shout on Dan Botwe...i'm convinced he's the idea l candidate for the NPP even better than though Nana trumps him with experience as well as nana being more recognisable.
    As long as people like Kufuor and Alan still have a major pull though, it's hard to see Dan rising than he already has now..i think he's got be a bit more "rebellious" and aggresive in the party

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  7. Hi, just came across your blog. Great article but I don't entirely agree with your perspective on Alan. I personally think that Alan injects some youth, energy and excitement into the NPP. Also, I do not see why he in particular is being singled out over cash distribution when this was the norm across party lines in the 2008 elections as well as previous elections.
    I also think it is unfair that alot of people are attributing the NPP losing power to disunity perpetuated by the Alan Camp while ignoring:

    1. The perception that the NPP under the Kufuor administration lost touch, became complacent and stopped listening to the grievances of the masses

    2. The perception that NPP officials and party functionaries became increasingly arrogant while using their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of the masses

    3. The perception that Nana is arrogant and had a sense of entitlement when it came to the presidency. I just heard some guys at a spot harping on about this point yesterday almost 2 months after the run-off.

    Please note that I used the word "perception" and did not state any of these points as factual or that I hold these particular points of view. Unfortunately, perceptions can be powerful things.

    What still baffles me is that between 2004 and 2008, alot of NPP top-brass forgot that strength lay in a united party and everyone started to think about their own political ambitions...Hence 18 candidates during the primaries. The once-united NPP started to crumble and nobody noticed!

    On the other hand, many watched with amusement as the NDC carefully purged itself of potentially opposing voices (Obed Asamoah/DFP elements) and became a united party that had a head-start on campaigning.

    By the time the NPP started to actually take the NDC seriously, Atta-Mills had already won the run-off.

    I'm also a little concerned by the emphasis being placed on the ethnicity of any future candidate of the NPP. The fact that Alan is Asante (albeit with Fante connections) should not even be considered in assessing his suitability. Besides, driving a wedge between Akyems and Asantes is an excellent strategy carefully crafted by those who know that the best way to conquer is to divide.

    The NPP needs to wake up and smell the coffee. Indeed, it is not just a bad dream, the NDC ARE actually back in power!!!! The next step would be to do some careful soul-searching and
    re-emerge as a united party under one candidate that has mass appeal.

    As much as I like Nana, one has to face the harsh reality that even with intense marketing, he failed to sell as a product.

    Even though Dan Botwe is shining in parliament already, to me he is still not a very exciting choice and I'm not sure about his mass appeal.
    Hence, I still like Alan.

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