The Moderates In The NPP Must Take Over Their Party

Author's note: This piece was written on 12/9/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:


Throughout the period that the Supreme Court heard the December 2012 presidential election petition, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo,  the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) presidential candidate, who took the matter to court,  kept a dignified silence.


When the verdict was announced, he made it clear that he disagreed with it,  but would accept it nonetheless - and immediately did so. He also called President Mahama to congratulate him. In so doing, he has set a shining example for the rest of Africa's political elite.


In sharp contrast to Nana Akufo-Addo's statesmanlike and dignified silence, is the dishonourable conduct   of the ruthless,  arrogant and  manipulative few  in  his inner circle -  whose amoral nature has led them to demand that a solemn undertaking by Nana Akufo-Addo that he would accept the outcome of the presidential election petition he took to the Supreme Court,  should be discarded by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).


That solemn undertaking cannot simply be discarded because of the deliberately engineered  controversy that has sprung up  around the Supreme Court's verdict.


The NPP must put the well-being of our nation and its people ahead of seeking  narrow party advantage. A few selfish extremists must not be allowed to hijack the NPP and use it for their own dubious ends.


The party  will be permanently damaged, if it allows the extremists in its upper echelons   to give Ghanaians the impression that  the NPP  wants to win power at any cost - and will resort to every despicable trick in the book to achieve that end if need be.


The  party's the-end-justifies-the-means extremists,  who  it appears do not know when to stop,   are constantly shifting goalposts  - and deploying mendacious argument after mendacious argument to justify the bad faith they are showing,  in demanding that Nana Akufo-Addo's solemn promise to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court,  ought to be discarded by the NPP.


The NPP must not discard a solemn undertaking  given by an honourable gentleman who has kept his word to accept the verdict of the Supreme Court - for that would be a most dishonourable thing for a party full of honourable individuals  to do.


To paraphrase the late J. B. Da Rocha,  when those selfsame individuals tried the same tactic after losing the December 2008 presidential election,  what the extremists are bent on doing - undermining the integrity of a number of  Supreme Court judges to justify breaking a promise given by their party in order to enable them continue holding our nation to ransom  -  is neither in the interest of the NPP nor that of the Republic of Ghana.


To safeguard its long-term future, the NPP must not allow itself to be hijacked by a few selfish  extremists. The party's moderates must take over their party as soon as practicable. A word to the wise...


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