For several hours this past Saturday, Koforidua was transformed into a boisterous party town, as fat cats and rank and file members of the governing New Patriotic Party(NPP) swooped into the leafy and sleepy Eastern Regional capital, to hobnob, gloat and pat each other on the back, but crucially to elect new party executives.
A bevy of NPP heavies, running the gamut from President Nana Akuffo Addo, to the affable and gentle former President John Kufour, and the nauseously combative Kennedy Agyepong, turned up to lend their support.
That the NPP is in an unrestrained jubilant mood is least surprising; barely two years ago, the party, confined to the periphery of Ghana politics and plagued by disruptive internal squabbles and dire financial circumstances, was on the cusp of implosion.
But a wobbly national economy and the accompanying sustained dissatisfaction with the ruling National Democratic Party (NDC) clearly reinvigorated the party. So, with a carefully crafted campaign message, it rode that tidal wave of massive public discontent with Mahama to victory in 2016.
Now safely ensconced in Jubilee House, the NPP can afford to flaunt its new found power, clout and wealth, including plucking down a whopping eleven million dollars for 275 mid-sized buses. At the conference, Mr. Addo waxed lyrically about his achievements, however sparse, and reminded Ghanaians for the umpteenth time that the economy was on an even keel.
As as is his wont, the President directed salvos at his predecessor, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, for handing him a lousy economy.
Have you noticed something, or am I the only one who has observed this in our President; he never diverts from this narrative, it is one he has finessed since 2016 and weaponized against Mr. Mahama. Bluntly speaking, the narrative has become stale and lackluster.
Hmmm, come to think of it, the last time I checked, Mr. Mahama is no longer the steward of the economy. The President ought to be told in no uncertain terms that he is now the sole custodian of our economy, he owes it, hook, line and sinker.
However, were the economy to emerge from its current stagnation and produce jobs, Nana will get all the credit, and rightly so. But if the economy continues to sputter, he will be in for a rude awakening.
Realizing that 2020 will be a pivotal year for the party, the NPP is off the racing blocks early, revving its engines for the ultimate showdown with arch nemesis, the NDC. It will be fireworks galore. I salivate at the prospect of watching these two behemoths go at it.
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