THE NPP CONGRESS

..The Main Highlights and Aftermath

So the most expensive,vulgar, wasteful, highly competitive and totally predictable political event over the last 2 decades did com off on 22 december 2007 and all the predictions came true.

First it must be said that no amout of 'Kuffour Dollar' was spared to orgainise a very expensive congress. the layout and decorations did befit a coronation of a manarch....and in many ways it was a coronation. It was well attended by all the big fishes of the NPP from all over the world.i wonder if any ambassador or a consular stayed at post over the period.

The atmospfere was manic and the tension was palpable even from yhe very beggining.

The Mediocre president gave a speech patting he and his underachieving government on the back for a job "well done". It was a typical Danqual-Busia narrative of success as the president kept insisting that their ability to stay in power for 2 succeesive terms happens to be one of thir biggest achievemnt.

Then there were the speeches from the 17 presidential candidates. They had five minutes each to drum theirs messages to thye 2300 delegates fro the last time. Most of them were uninspring and the rest mediocre. however two of the candidates really stood out;Dr Konadu Apraku and Dr Arthur kennedy

After a very tense wait, the voting got underway at about 6pm. The voting was torturously slow as the delegates of from the 10 region went in one after the other to determine the fate of the 17 presidential hopefuls. The process went on in the whiles allegations of vote buying and influence peddling were bubbling under. Matters came to a head around 9:23pm when the National organizer of the Party, Lord Commey announced to the hearing of everyone that Paul Afoko , a member of the Alan Kyeremanten’s Team was distributing money (in Euros and Pounds) in the congress hall. According to sources a woman accosted Afoko in the corridors and even slapped him for attempting to bribe some people. This triggered a lot of anger which had been building up since the beginning of the campaign. It confirmed the longstanding belief among the other camps, especially Akuffo Addo’s Team who felt the combination of unbridled spending and perceived support from President gave Alan undue advantage. The anger led to very distressing and violent actions from those who felt hard done by. The party Chairman was seen furiously striking some unfortunate souls who dared to speak back to him. The voting was disrupted and pandemonium broke out all over hall. There was swearing, shoving and slapping all over the place. Some unlucky journalists did not escape the brunt of the violence and some were physically assaulted and removed from their positions. The violence dropped slightly when Paul Afoko; the man accused of distributing the money was removed from the hall and sent to a police station. However the violence and bedlam resurfaced when some animated delegates decided to call for Alan to be sanctioned. The violence was so bad that the police were nearly overwhelmed in protecting the ballot process. After another round of mayhem uneasy calm was restored and voting restarted. At the end of the voting process the next morning the visibly retired candidates and their spouses who had been captive in the congress hall were all suddenly alert and in a positive mood. Based on the amount of money they had spent on the delegates and the subsequent assurances made by them, they had every right to be positive. After some delays, the counting eventually got underway at around 8 am. At the end of the counting it was clear that two candidates had clearly taken very significant portions of the polls. It became clear that Akuffo Addo and Alan Kyeremanten’s were poised to go into a crunch second round. Akuffo Addo had 42% of the vote while Alan garnered 34% both of them falling below the 50%+1 vote required to win. The most shocking in the electoral contest was the amount of votes Arthur Kennedy, the New York banker who thought being the vice president of a mid size state bank in the US qualified him to the position of the president of the Republic of Ghana – could only muster 2 votes! All was set for a crunch second round between the president’s boy (Alan) and the party grassroots choice (Akuffo Addo). Suddenly the division in the party became much nuanced and the congress grounds split straight down the middle. The Akuffo Addo camp and the Alan camp. Word on the congress grounds got out that the rest of the candidates had all gone behind the Akuffo Addo camp, ostensibly to teach the president a lesson for supporting Alan. Alan did get the message and after a tense hold up of about 45 minutes all the candidates went into a closed-door meeting. they all emerged from the meeting apparently with a consensus ; abandon a potentially bruising and acrimonious second round, the outcome of which everyone in the hall knew. So Alan stepped onto the podium to address the crowd. He gave a long speech the central theme of which was to as he put it “concede victory”. It is significant that he chose to use that phrase instead of the more familiar and acceptable “concede defeat” . So Akuffo Addo was declared the default winner. It was an expected victory given the work he had done and his visibility among the grassroots……… and lets face it he spent the most money.

MBEKI BEATEN SOUNDLY

As the ANC grassroot sends a message of Discontent to the Neoliberal and Condescending Policies of Mbeki and Trevor Manuel The Elections of Jacob Zuma as the new president of the ANC in south Africa is a victory

WHOSE CAMPAIGN IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE AMONG THIS UNPRECEDENTED MONEY CONTEST?

It has been a watershed in the checkered history of our nation. This year’s unprecedented campaign for the position of flagbearership of the NPP has revealed that our fledgling Democracy is not out of the woods yet. This is a race that has shown how low the NPP is willinig to stoop to win political power. The flagbearership campaign has become a money circus with the highest bidder likelely to win the race. This has led the contestants to engage in a money spending spree never witnessed before even in general elections in Ghana history. This has angered a majority of even NNP party member who have been complianing about the use of money by the contestants. Leading the rage is Dr Arthur Kennedy who has not only expressed worry about the amount of money being spent by the other contestants but also he is questioning the source of their staggering wealth. He is calling for thorough investigations into thier spending and also be queried on the act odf bribing delegates. The widely acclaimed hardworking former General Secreatry of the NPP, Dan Botchwey has also expressed frustrations over the use of money. He is adament that their source of wealth is not unquestionable. To add to that other well respected and objective commentators have also condemmed the flagrant use of money by the majority ogf the contestants. Luminaries like Kweku Sintim Misa (KSM) have questioned

A DARK DAY FOR GHANA’S ECONOMY

.....Stooge Government buckles under pressure from EU and big business. On Friday 14th December one more death nail was driven into the economy of Ghana when the Government of Ghana signed a version of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and ACP countries. Ghana is the second country after Cote de Voire to sign the EPA in the West African region. Against the backdrop of incessant and sustained pressure from the civil society on the government not to sign the deal they went ahead anyway. Over a period of two years a lot of protest has been organized by civil society organizations across Africa backed by solid research findings advising against entering into this trade trap. Led by organizations such as Third World Network, Action Aid, Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition, Christian Aid and OXFAM a lot of awareness was created in Ghana on the nature and possible impacts of the EPA and there was a massive consensus that it would spell doom for the Ghanaian economy especially in the areas of Fiscal Policy, Agriculture and Industrial Policy. The West African Economic Community the ECOWAS resolved to refuse to sign the EPA en bloc saying that the deadline of December 2007 was too short for them to adequately negotiate a favorable deal and conduct a comprehensive impact assessment study. It seemed that for the first time in many years our leaders will listen to the internal voices of reason and do what would be in the overall interest of Ghanaians and not consent to the parochial interest of the elite clientele. The Government of Ghana affirmed the position of ECOWAS and the reasonable voices of the majority of Ghanaians and made strong statements that it was not ready to sign the EPA. Up until the EU – AU summit in Portugal between 8th and 9th December. Cracks began to appear in the united front when Cote de Voire signed under pressure from the EU and the powerful French business interests (Cote de Voire is the biggest and the most significant economy in the UEAMOA currency zone.). After the summit the government performed an acute about turn after it had apparently been put on enormous pressure by the imperialist powers. The government has gone ahead to sign the deal knowing perfectly all the repercussions that the EPA will have on the economy. This was clear from the pronouncements of the negotiating team and officials from the Ministry of Trade who had declared on numerous occasions that Ghana was not ready to sign the EPA The deal will cost the government about $120m in lost tariff revenue yearly. This will rob the government of badly needed funds for infrastructure and social investments. The EPA will also mean Ghana will open its markets to competition from highly subsidized agricultural goods from the EU. Since Ghana was hurried to sign the EPA it had not apparently prepared to even negotiate some concessions from the EU. This led the government to stage a farcical tough stance by appearing to hamper the signing ceremony. The signing was done on 14th instead of the advertised 13th. Ghana has suffered under the pressure of “The Washington consensus” policies via the Structural Adjustment programs of the 1990s. The stuttering industrial sector is set to suffer further from the unfair competition from obviously advanced and highly competitive European industrial products. It is estimated that it will displace about 8% of the industrial sector in Ghana over the next five years. For a nation that is already experiencing deindustrialization (before it even started), this will definitely be the death of industry in Ghana. The Agricultural sector is the one at risk the most from the deal since it is already suffering from the effects of the first and second wave of the deadly trade liberalization in the previous decade. Due to the unfair competition from the highly subsidized agricultural product from the EU and the USA, the agric sector in Ghana has been driven to the point of extinction. The grains, livestock and poultry subsectors have especially felt the pinch leading to shrinking of their productivity. Rice production especially has taken a heavy hit since the trade liberalization in the early 1990s.Rice production has fallen by as much as 25% while poultry production has fallen drastically under the weight of the dumped and highly subsidized (about €1.25bn) poultry products from the EU. The EPA will be a challenge to the livelihood and food security of the poorest section of our already poor nation. Even the EU’s own Sustainability Impact Assessment report admits that ECOWAS region will be adversely affected by the EPA. There are even some studies that suggest that only about 23% of Ghana’s export to the EU will benefit from an enhanced access as a result of the EPA. 73% of Ghana exports to the EU is covered by MFN zero and GSP zero tariffs. It is clear that this government is incapable of taking policy that will be in the interest of majority of Ghanaians. Under pressure from their imperialist masters and the rent seekers (exporters of marginal products inconsequential to the overall economy) this incompetent government has taken this country into a deal that will be most damaging to the majority of Ghanaians.

MAD DASH FOR THE POST

>>> The NPP Flagbearership Race hottens up with Hours to the D-Day Take a walk through the City of Accra and you wold be forgiven for thinking that thare is going to be a huge gig over the weekend of a much loved classic band who are getting together again.There are huge billboards and banners all over the city emblazoned with the pictures of the varios contestants. A lot of money is defibnetely being spent by the contestant... money that almost everyone is worried about. Even the NPP faithful who are used to seeing their party spend a lot of state money duiring electioneering are revulted by the open and brazen show of opulence. There is a tall list of some candidates who are spending money themselves.

A DIFFICULT OUTCOME OF CPP CONGRESS

As Kwesi Ndoum Secures flagbearership Slot

The historic CPP congress which took place at The KNUST campus over the weekend threw up a lot of challenges to the members of the CPP nationwide who were full of optimism about the fortunes of the party. As expected the crucial race of flagbearership was a straight fight between Paa Kwesi Ndoum a former Partner of Deloitte an Acoounting Consultancy, and an active member of the Kuffour administration; and Proffessor Badu Akosah a pathologist and a former Head of the Ghana Health Service.

After a very competitive and uplifting congress Paa kwesi was declared the winner with 53% of the delegate vote.In addition members of Paa Kwesi's team swept the board in other positions of executive power with the party. Mr. Nadi Nylander was elected Chairman, Kwamena Greenstreet as general secreatary and Alamisi and Organiser.This was an emphatic statement by the delegates.

Paa is a qualified person who has better visibility and national recognition coupled with a lifetime of achievement and success. He is also well endowed to finance a well oiled campaign.

However the choice has led some CPP to members scratching their heads. The popular choice outside the conference room was Prof AKosa. I was included in this consensus.The track record of Paa Kwesi's commitment to the CPP is really patchy and many people in the middle and tired of the NPP Administration are also frustrated by the choice because of the association of Kwesi with the NPP over the years. He does not represent the fresh start that people are clamouring for.Some CPP activist even go as far as calling him an NPP mole who will sell the party to the string pullers of the NPP. Some alleged that his campaign which was by far the most expensive was financed by the NPP.

For me, my opinion is a little bit more complex than just a disaster.

First i see Ndoum as sellable more than he can be credited for. However his act of political suicide of deciding to campaign against the CPP Flag bearer in the 2004 general elections is going to stack against him heavily.Also his long association with the NPP could be both harmful and beneficial depending on how it is used by both Friends and foes.But the very fact that i see Ndoum to an ambitious man assures me somewhat that he will fight the election fiercely.

The outcome of this watershed CPP congress has thrown up a lot of questions than answers for the future of the CPP.

The CPP knows it is not going to win this electtion, however most CPP activist are hoping this will be the beggining of good things for this sleeping giant of Ghanain politics

CPP IN A LEADERSHIP CONTEST THAT WILL DEFINE THE FUTURE OF THE GREAT PARTY

>>> Two men in Pole Position This weekend could prove to a watershed fro thye CPP. At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (an institution named after the Great Nkrumah, founder of the CPP), the CPP will attemt to launch a renaissance of the party that holds more hope for Ghanaians than any other party. The CPP will attempt to elect a presidential candidate to fight the election in 2008.