The Rise and Fall of NDC

It will be remiss of me as a citizen of Ghana if I donot say something about what is happening now in the NDC party. The steady drumbeat of despair in the country is telling a big story for the party in power now. In the blue corner of the ring is president Mr.Atta Mills and in the red corner is Mr/Mrs Rawlings and FONKAR. People at the top of NDC echelon have to end this bickering, backstabbing and intolerable paralysis as the die hard supporters are going batty. It is also unfortunate that this political biases have gone to feed the imaginations of some of the supporters on each side into twisting the basic facts. What will happen in Sunyani should be an occasion for the party followers to reaffirm that their political differences shouldn't degenerate into demonization but if the unfortunate happens, then the leaders will be the architects of their own downfall as it is always said that in politics the distance between idiot and genius especially at the highest levels can be measured in days. The unvarnished truth is that the opposition party (NPP) are hoping things stay bad and they will thank the political gods for the manna from heaven. All the problems for the deep cracks in NDC party should be laid squarely at the doorstep of Mr,Rawlings and some of the party big wigs who areafraid to call a spade a spade by telling the ex president not to wash the party's dirty linen in public. It is a well known fact that Mr, Rawlings has been the rain maker for NDC candidates across the country and the mouth piece for the party in very delicate and difficult to say issues. As a result of this he has wielded so much power and become untouchable or a monster in the party that they dare not make him livid. I once did admire everyting about him from his style to his essence but of late there is something worryingly cyclical about his behaviour. If his reasoning is taken to its logical extreme, nobody will be fit for the job of the president except him. Anybody who does not tow his lines or kowtow to him is considered a liability or nonentity. When he was in power the party gave him their unflinching support for 8 years without any opposition. President Mills was the one who this same man "imposed" on the party to run for the presidency on two failed attempts and later became the president. It's therefore unthinkable that in less than 3 years he is seeking the downfall of this same president Mills. The intensity of the hatred is much higher now and will be more visceral than what we have seen. In his hubristic drive for dominance in the party, he and his FONKAR followers resorted to some staccato remarks about the president. Their actions and sayings of late and on what was captured on the secret recordings has landed them at ground zero of a controversy in which their patriotism and love for the party and country are being questioned. The best way to always win an argument is to begin by being right and FONKAR followers know very well that Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings doesn't have the experience or mental acuity to be a president. The fact that she was a first lady does not qualify her to take that position. Also to be the leader of women's movement is different from becoming a president of a country. Her followers should stop praising her with a cascade of encomiums describing her as an extraordinary person with stellar qualities. The positives in her resume are as short as that of a window cleaner. How can these people deny the obvious that president Mills hasn't got all the qualities to lead the party?. They can compare the two who are going to contest in Sunyani in every respect and the analogy breaks down at key points. They are devoid of vision and rendered incoherent by these irrational anger and myopic views. Facts to them don't seem to matter as their world view is terribly limited. Also people who have studied ex-president Rawlings in his different incarnations will believe that he is finding it hard to subject himself to any authority. What he and his ilk should know is that Ghana is not for any one family or tribe. The fact that he is the founding father of the party does not mean he owns it in any way or form. He must be told to replace acrimony with civility and gridlock in the party with progress, for a house divided amongst itself does not stand. Voter attitudes could bode ill for NDC in some regions should this remain unchanged after the Sunyani convention and when the party seeks to defend its turf in 2012. I believe in democracy and Konadu Agyemang Rawlings has every right to challenge the incumbent president and as a result of that she must be allowed to assess the landscape and draw her own conclusion about how to proceed even though she knows she wouldn't win. It doesn't matter who the Yutong bus driver is but the most important thing is for the driver to take the party to their destinaton safely. The performance of this president is peerless and without him the hopes of NDC staying in power in the next election will be in intensive care. Everybody knows that the long term prognosis for the party is less encouraging because of all these infighting. I really bear no animus towards Mr, Rawlings or FONKAR but my million dollar question to them is, what does it take for them to stop being the payed piper of hatred?. Mr, Rawlings should take a cue from the past presidents who belonged to the same party with their presidents and never criticized them. Nelson Mandella didn't do that. Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton haven't done that. Reagan and Bush 1 did not so why is Rawlings doing this to the same person he supported for so long?. Does he need constant attention?. Anything bad should have been dealt with behind the scenes after all a softer tone of approach to any problem can work perfectly well like a needle and thread on a torn fabric. Due to his attitude and lack of respect for the current president, he has emerged as an indecisive cliche`-spouting leader instead of an inspirational leader. He has evinced such contempt for the rule of law "do unto others" that the popular support he once garnered is on the wane. This is the reason why he thinks he is being squeezed out of the party. If some of the NDC members think life under president Mills is unbearable and bad, they should wait till they go into the opposition then they would know the difference between day and night. To blame or traduce the president for all the country's problems is farcical. They should leave him to make a decision on how to crack the whip and support him to the end. Dr, David Sunu, Mr, Teye Nyaunu and Herbert Mensah should know that the president is guided more by the concerns of education, transportation, economy, physical security and not by the compass of party ideology, loyalty to one person or vindictiveness. If Mr, Rawlings, his wife and FONKAR supporters want to circumvent the constitution from a two term to three term president through the wife for him then they should know that Ghanaians are too smart for that. Lastly, the leaders of NDC have one month to change things and let sanity prevail in the party else we will be reading the first page in a thriller that will end either in resurrection or the death and burial of a party. If the later happens then NPP will be the beneficiary. If NPP were able to turn things around last year, NDC should be able to do the same thing. The ball is in the court of Mr/Mrs Rawlings and FONKAR.