Commitment

Commitment is foxy. It is a daily constant. Everyone subscribes. And it stalls us from cradle to grave. Its challenges betray real intents, ulti­mately. For example, in brass tacks we join a group out of conviction because that it suites our ambi­tions—inordinate and ordinarily. We rebel when neither becomes forlorn. The consequent feeling from between disappointment to treachery, starts poisonous con­spiracy theories, leading to a mafia within to counter blame. Our experience in politics is strewn with this phenomenon—the NDC twice split, REFORM and Dr Obed Asamoah’s Democratic Liberals. The NPP’s is UP, PP, PFP/UNC and another break-away led by Dr Charles Wereko Brobbey and K.A. Gbedemah’s NAL. Several other small offshoots had had their brief runs—Joe Appiah’s “ABABASEE”, Ga SHIFIMOKPE and Dr de Graft Johnson/ K.B. Asante’s SDF.

Recriminations are continuing, becoming personalised and eerie on rampage in the defeated NPP; but surge of complaints is swell­ing in the triumphant NDC. For the NPP, it is a blame game. The NDC’s is grievance-loading about sharing kind of ‘spoils of war’. Ideological distinctions aside, something else in the natures of the two major parties—NDC and NPP, are important to note in this period of internal disagreements— to the Left and Right of politics, descriptive-wise. The Left can readily rally back.

With regard to the Right, an implosion means long knives had been honed for long and have just been being pulled out of scabbards. Contents are contentious and damnatory, hard to reconcile imme­diately but buried, not settled when the prospects are potentially pro­pitious at the immediate upcoming next elections. A dismembered Right re-assembled for Kufuor in 2000. Nana Akufo-Addo’s first win was a cocktail of disenchantment, a conjured belief and consensus of “let’s give him an opportunity” and after all, he has been knocking at the door in years; the second was due to a seeming established tradition of a two-term stint. (That enlightens NPP’s slogan – ‘Break­ing the Eight’).

In contrast, the Left, the moaning can be summed as “we toiled for nothing”, relative to appointments; and attributed to the grassroots on which the party draws its follow­ing unlike specifically, the Unions in Europe. On both political Wings in this country, the venom in every protest relies on wealth NPP and for the NDC campaign organization, like the old CPP’s dictum: “organisation decides”. That maxim could make a decent submission for the complainants – “toiled for nothing” likewise wealth is withheld on the Right. Truth is on both every angry person knows all cannot be appointed to high positions. On the face of it, the logic exposes to undermine the intents of our humanity’s vanity– the ‘hows’ of our earlier commit­ments in everything up from belief. It might be countered as “this is politics”; and its ‘winner takes all’. False. It is because of the premise; and what is forgotten- ‘don’t ask for what country (Party) can do for me?’ I empathise with the pain from the disappointment.

Among the palavers which have impeded the placing of real struc­tures for our political parties and growth in our history, is the sort which is finally shown as the casus belli to justify walking away, en masse or individually with ‘sanko­fa’ –return home later, prodigals. Singularly or collectively ‘you are welcome and suspect’—you stand at the back of a new queue. Short of dismissal(s) it’s over internally and incidentally discarded in public opinion and or discourse and or in­deed finito. Many a brilliant career and sojourn has been destroyed— CPP’s P.K.K. Quaidoo, Saki Scheck and K.Kurankyi Taylor, 1951. Taylor and Scheck quit but Education Minister Quaidoo was sacked and detained for dissent— an outstanding daringly blunt on the floor of Parliament and setting the record as the Maestro singing an overture to the ‘pop’ choral song “Asem yi dzi ka”- ‘the plain truth to be repeatedly said’- and the entire House rapturously joined the chorus. Quaidoo later found­ed a political party which had no consequence.

That 60s history together with breaks-up to date, eloquently speaks depreciating to appreciate the distribution and falls out of ‘spoils’ of victory– unfortunate. I get two impressions: [i] that there are moves to a Neo-NPP. [ii] The likely calculation is an amalgam of NDC leavers plus Independent and weathercock malcontents. If his­tory is a good guide, this “THIRD FORCE” may not survive like several pretender follows-up. There was one supposedly touted from lunching to the ballot fiasco last 7 Dec 2024. For the sake of the younger generation [and perhaps posterity], narrate the story of debacles by forcing a powerful political group between our stuck Right (Conservatives) and Left (Socialists). DOMO which later became UP was ineffective because CPP dominated. The overthrow of the CPP [First Westminster to Republic] gave UP what Roman Catholics call an “Extreme Unc­tion”, a final spiritual and hopeful new lifeline.

In the wake of the putsch, Legon (the University of Ghana) pub­lished a News weekly Magazine called the “Legon Observer”. It was delightful reading and a regular sold out. The Magazine undertook to publish a decently academic analysis of the mistakes of the erstwhile Nkrumah Government. They provided what went wrong and wrote alternative prescription for the ruling Junta NLC. They critical also of the Junta which did not like the punches. An apparent silence-them-scheme folded the Legon Observer. Returning the country to constitutional rule, had put the Dons in a most favoured club the country which regard­ed them as the THIRD FORCE PARTY if the Legonites wanted. Their attempts fizzled. The country in its disappointment went to polls are told itself that the “Two-Par­ty” system is a firm choice. It had been so since 1969 when the Soldiers went back to the barracks. A hitch occurred which brought in Acheampong’s UNIGOV rejected at a referendum. It may be noted that the country was at that junc­ture, totally dejected of politics, disillusioned with political parties and disappointed with politicking, having been taken through the CPP’s Leftism, the Military’s fum­bling and Busia’s PP’s ineptitude.

Up to this Fourth Republic 1992, each Constitution crafted has upheld a real two-party system without prohibiting other con­testant-groups and Independents but remained the Governing party (majority) on one side and others as Opposition (minority). As we see it happening now is a stark reason for post-elections arising difficult problems due to either a leadership vacuum, in part also to the national constitution and or the failure precisely of the political parties to have a Triumvirate ahead of the ballots.

The salient factor in the apparent confusion within NDC and NPP is that between three to four times multiple of persons who voted for, on one hand for change and on another for stet are looking forward to some raise in the social strata through appointments and or are displaced respectively. At the winners’ end the ferocity of jockeying for influences is amazing. The scenery priorly were vigorous­ly vying groups, without meaning to hype, fought like Sicilian Mafiosi through the US’ “KKK” to Foster Dulles or the notorious racism of Enoch Powell. As regards the vote-losers, perhaps without a leadership strong person, as we have it currently, go for criticising everything with loud concertinas.

This continuing circus dominates our political discourses, infecting a slow ebbing which could drive back public enthusiasm compa­rable to the Trio sentiments to justify UNIGOV or indeed Gen Akufo’s TINAGOV [SMC II July 1975-June 1979]. But the CPP had an overrule in the “Party is Supreme”—Take it or move on. However, ‘move on’ has two forms: voluntary and dismissed. The NPP opted for the latter since the de­feat. Adwowa Safo looks like gone or to self-eject, merited or other­wise. The public seem to enjoy her talking among the plethora on both sides of our major political parties, except “Moke” — Krobo Edusei for direct and needling abrasiveness, quite a humorous human being to always remember. To laughter light the heavy stuff, I shall recall a meeting of CPP appointees after President Nkru­mah’s tour of the Eastern Region. The format included a line of appointees to pay homage. There was a physically-challenged person among. At the close, the curious President enquired identification of the man. There was a sudden silence. None of the Biggies from Regional Minister R.O. Amoako Atta to the least Party Apparat­chik. Edusei broke the quiet and shouted back: “Kwame ei.., eye wo …. fuor no mu baako”. Kwame threw his head back on the sofa saying “Kwame maaye bioooo…. ye da nyamli ase”—laughter broke through; asem se be.

By Prof Nana Essilfie-Conduah.