CROWDS DON’T WIN ELECTIONS

Thousands of people gather at the Accra Sports Stadium for the final rally of the National Democratic Congress

By Ekow Mensah

If the ability to pull crowds could determine the outcome of elections, which of the political parties would have won the 2016 election?

Well, your guess is as good as ours.

Indeed, Ghanaian history appears to suggest that crowds at campaign rallies in Ghana have always been deceptive.

In 1969, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah and the National Alliance of Liberals (NAL) were believed to have pulled the biggest crowd at a rally at the Accra Sports Stadium and yet it lost the election to the Progress Party of Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia.

The NAL could only win seats in the Volta Region and nowhere else.

In 1992, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) then led by Professor Albert Adu Boahen pulled the biggest crowds at its rallies.

It’s last rally at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle was largely declared as mammoth and yet it was declared the looser in the elections.

In 2008, Dr  Paa Kwesi Nduom, then as Presidential candidate of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) addressed perhaps the biggest crowd in the season when he pulled  hundreds of thousands of people to the Kwame Nkrumah circle.

In 2016, the NDC crowd that gathered at the Accra Sports Stadium was easily the largest for the season and yet the party lost both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

The point has now been clearly made that crowds do not win elections.

Editorial

APPEALS

The appeals from the leaders of both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP)to their members and supporters to avoid reckless violence  which could lead to mayhem must be taken serious.

 Since the results of the 2016 elections supporters and members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have allegedly targeted their opponents for assault.

 There have been reports of vandalisation of motor vehicles and state properties across the country.

The reaction of President John Dramani Mahama in calling on the police to deal with criminal elements according to law is perfectly understandable.

The President is still the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana armed forces and is responsible for all the security agencies and he ought to use his full powers to restore law and order.

The Insight is also very happy about a statement issued by the Acting General Secretary of the NPP calling for an end to the violence.

Ghana belongs to all of us and we all have a duty to prevent reckless actions which can cause considerable damage to national cohesion.

We have to listen to the appeals.

RAWLINGS BLASTS MILLS AND MAHAMA

Jerry John Rawlings

By Godwin A. Allotey

The founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Jerry John Rawlings has chastised the current leadership for allowing corruption to envelope the party that upheld probity and accountability in high esteem.

According to him, corruption in the party began under the late President Mills. Mr. Rawlings who had served twice as a president of Ghana said his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings broke away from the NDC which had been very instrumental in its upbringing because of corrupt activities that have crept into the party.

“…I can do is to critique and advocate for my people. I can’t hide it. And I believe that was how I won the respect from the larger populace, from both sides of the political divide. I have remained principled. My wife is still standing where she is, cut off from our party that she was very responsible in building up because it became corrupted from Mills’ time,” he added.

Speaking to the Nigerian Guardian newspaper, Jerry Rawlings said such situation is not good for the governing NDC since the biggest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party could use that against them in the upcoming November polls. “We now fight on the terms of the opposition or the main opposition party [NPP].

Fortunately for them, they have a leader who is not known for messing around with material things. The situation is so bad. So unfortunate!” Mr. Rawlings who has not been mincing words talking about corruption insisted that he won’t stop talking it. “All I can do is speak up. I find myself in a situation where I have moral responsibility and no executive authority. I would have wished that my moral authority could have the same influence. But that is not the case, corruption has infiltrated our institutions and their leaders so badly today that they use some kind of lens to demonstrate that you can keep your moral authority, but this is executive power at work,” he lamented. Mahama faces impeachment over Ford gift saga Mr. Rawlings’ claims come on the back of pressure being mounted on President Mahama to resign for receiving a $100, 000 Ford vehicle from a Burkinabe contractor who is said to have benefited from some lucrative contracts from government. The Minority side in Parliament has started collecting signatures of New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs in a bid to have the Speaker of the House open impeachment proceedings against the President or have him investigated.

Corruption has reached epidemic level The Head of the Human Security Department of the National Security Secretariat, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo–Mensah (rtd) had earlier said Ghana’s corruption rate had reached an epidemic status. “What is happening in Ghana and in the last few days tells me that there is complete rot in our society and we need to do something about it. It is more like an epidemic that is running through the system,” he observed with concern. Ghana improves slightly in 2015 corruption perception index Meanwhile the recent  Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by anti-graft agency Transparency International revealed that Ghana improved slightly in the fight against corruption in the sub-region.

Ghana ranked the 7th African country with high level of corruption in the latest index, an improvement over the years. According to a statement from the local chapter of Transparency International, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), “The CPI 2015 scored Ghana 47 out of clean score of 100 and ranked the country 56 out of 168 countries.”

AKUFO ADDO’S LETTER TO RAWLINGS

Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo

H.E. Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings Former President of the Republic Accra.

Your Excellency, This is to acknowledge with thanks your letter of December 10, 2016, with its heartwarming contents.

Our people, as clearly expressed in your letter, are confronted with huge challenges – unprecedented levels of joblessness, high costs of living, widespread and rampant cases of corruption, and deterioration in governance and in the quality of our health and education services – which they want addressed.

My goal is to provide effective leadership, which is honest, competent and determined to deliver, and address these challenges, so that we can put our nation onto the path of progress and prosperity, and, thereby, improve rapidly the standards of living of Ghanaians.

For this to happen, I would need the unalloyed support of every Ghanaian, irrespective of their ethnic group or religious or political affiliation. There can be no room in such an undertaking for witch-hunting or acts of political vendetta or harassment.

No member of the NDC has anything to fear from my future government. I am fully committed to pursuing “an anti-corruption drive across-the-board”, as you put it, which will be fully anchored in the rule of law and strict respect for due process.

That is the best form of security for every citizen of the country. Once again, many thanks for your letter of congratulations. Warm regards and best wishes.

Yours sincerely, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President-Elect.

NPP CONDEMNS POST-ELECTION ATTACKS, URGES SUPPORTERS TO REMAIN CALM

NPP Acting General Secretary, John Boadu

The attention of the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been drawn to reports of alleged acts of violence and vandalism being perpetrated allegedly against some political opponents of the NPP in the aftermath of the announcements of the results of the 2016 election. We condemn in no uncertain terms these distasteful occurrences, if true, and wish to state that NPP will not condone or sanction such actions.

We urge the Ghana Police Service to enforce the laws of the land, and bring to book any person, irrespective of their political affiliations, found to be perpetrating acts of violence against any person.

Whilst the occasion of the NPP’s victory has understandably led to widespread jubilation amongst party supporters, sympathisers, and, indeed, members of the general public, we appeal to our supporters and everybody else to be guided by the statement made by the President-Elect of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his acceptance speech on 9th December, where he entreated supporters “to respect the peace and the property and lives of everybody, especially those of our political opponents. “We are the party of the rule of law, and we should act accordingly, with magnanimity in our moment of victory.”

All of us have a responsibility to ensure that the dignified, peaceful exercise of their sovereign power that the Ghanaian people manifested on 7th December, which has enhanced significantly the image of our country, be protected in this period of transition from one government to another. God bless our homeland Ghana. ……signed…… John Boadu General Secretary (Ag) -

Ghana Has Consolidated Its Democratic Credentials – Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama

President John Mahama says with the successful election on December 7 and the transition process ongoing, Ghana has consolidated its democratic credentials.

In reference to his speech on the eve of election day, where he said Ghana was going to have a peaceful election, the President said Ghanaians have scored a distinction in its democratic quest.

He said with the smooth transfer of power Ghana has earned the respect and admiration of not only the rest of African but also the world. 

The President was speaking at the inauguration of the Transition Team at the International Conference Centre in Accra, which he co-chaired with the President-elect Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

According to him, since the adoption of the 1992 Constitution, Ghana has worked to perfect the legislation to lead its complex journey on the landscape of governance. 

He said all Ghanaians must applaud themselves for creating a useful subsidiary legislation like the Presidential Transition Act of which serves the nation well at critical moment in the democratic journey.

President Mahama noted the Act has become a convenient instrument in guiding the nation to achieving a successful the transfer of power. 

"For the incoming administration, it is time to cut the celebration and prepare yourself to assume the reigns of governance. For the outgoing, it is time to wrap up business and say your farewells," he noted. 

He added that beyond the transition both sides have the responsible to work together in the common interest of the nation.