A lot of people believe that, right from the onset of the electioneering campaigns till the swearing-in, a large section of the Ghanaian mainstream media hatched a grand scheme to helping President Nana Addo and the NPP to win power. If it was so, I think much of this was done by ordinary Ghanaian individuals like me on the social media. We all yearned and called for a regime change so, credit cannot be claimed by anyone except president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, his vice-president - Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and most especially the NPP party.
The NPP went into the election with determination and a winning mentality. They were poised for action and ever battle ready to win the elections from the word go, so no stone was left unturned. Some of us believed very strongly that Nana Addo was going to win especially, looking at the inspirational, thought provoking and lofty speeches he made at the NPP's 2016 manifesto launch and its last national rally at the Trade Fair Centre. One could see nothing but victory in Nana Addo and his running-mate's demeanour. "The how or by what margin" was the question we did not have answers to. At this event, we saw Nana Addo and Dr. Bawumia dance to several tunes of praises and thanks. All this was not an illusion but an indication of massive trust and good will they received from electorates across the country during their pre-campaign trail. How do you go into a battle with white apparels all over if you do not anticipate yourself a victor? We all saw the numbers except the hypocrites, the ostriches and boot lickers who refused to tell president Mahama the truth. Though, he sensed the looming and his possible defeat especially, when the 'kalypo craze' caught and swiftly spread like a wild fire in the harmattan among Ghanaians on social media. The 'kalypo thing' had an original intent to mock president Nana Addo. But, this inured to a political mileage for the NPP and the backlash was devastatingly disastrous on the part of the NDC.
The former president could not practically do anything to preclude his eminent lost of power and has to accept it and actually confessed in their last Greater Accra regional rally at the Accra Sports Stadium "We have fought this election as if we are in opposition.” Why should an incumbent government with everything at its disposal campaign for elections as though, it was in opposition? The one simple answer to this is, you did not work for the people who gave you the mandate, and to have it again, you must campaign like an opposition party.
With this, one could confidently say, without any fear of contradictions, whatsoever that, Nana Addo's victory in the 2016 general elections was inevitable. My conviction about Nana Addo's victory dated back to the 2012 election petition, when a lot of people thought that he was going to appeal for a review of the Supreme Court verdict, but to the chagrin of everyone, he did the unthinkable which was the noblest.
"I have called President John Dramani Mahama and I have now congratulated him on being elected the fourth president of the Fourth Republic of our country.
The Supreme Court of our nation has spoken and the result of the December 2012 presidential election has been confirmed as having been won by the candidate of the NDC, President Mahama.
As I said earlier, whilst I disagree with the Court’s decision, I accept it. I accept that what the Court says brings finality to the election dispute. We shall not be asking for a review of the verdict so we can all move on in the interest of our nation. Everything in my bones, in my upbringing and in what I have done with my life thus far makes it imperative that I accept a decision made by the highest court of the land, however much I dislike or disagree with it.
I am saddened by the verdict and I know that many of our supporters are saddened too. However, for the sake and love of our country, we must embark on a path that builds, rather than destroys, to deal with our disappointment.
I appeal to all members and supporters of our party, the NPP in particular to accept the verdict of the court. Even in our disappointment we can take pride in the way we have conducted ourselves. Even in our disappointment we can take pride that the NPP has again led the way in deepening Ghana’s democracy. To quote one of the Supreme court judges, “After this case, elections in Ghana will not be the same.” In other words, we might not have been given the ruling we sought, but thanks to our efforts, we can hopefully look forward to an improved electoral process in our country."
This speech touched every soul to the marrow. Brought sense of positivism to the personality of the so-called 'devil' and broadened the 'mind-narrow'. And, many were those who vowed to give him their mandates if he came to them tomorrow.
There have never been euphoria and public gaiety that greeted any election victory like Nana Addo's. This was spontaneous and unprecedented. Those who took part in the election victory jubilation were even more than Nana Addo's total number of valid votes. Literally, the whole country including the NDCs celebrated this long awaited victory.
These sincere happiness and genuine admiration of Ghanaians were even more pronounced and hypnotic on the swearing-in day. This occasion was exceptionally excellent, superb and phantasmagorical. Attendance was extremely at the highest and it would not be hyperbolic to say, the whole world was in attendance to witness and share our felicitation. The inaugural speech was simply the best, as far as swearing-ins in the fourth republic are concerned. But, this was not devoid of low moments and some embarrassing flaws which could have been avoid(ed).
It must be put on records that, our national events have never been without hitches or glitches no matter how trivial they might seem. I remember faintly that, during former president Agyekum Kuffour's swearing-in, he read the oath of office ahead of the Chief Justice instead of following his lead. President Atta Mills of blessed memory, could not see well and so did not quite follow the Chief Justice's lead so, he ate some of the words. President John Mahama, in his quest to appear modern and trendy, read his inaugural speech from an iPad which he held with his both hands. This was unprofessional and a smack of lack of protocol. A podium or stand was provided for that purpose but he refused to place his scripts on the podium for comfortable reading of his speech. One can also mention the 59th sixth March brochure brouhaha, but the least said about this the best. Nana Addo's inaugural speech was diluted with coughs and chokes in breath, probably, precipitated by the hazy harmattan weather. Nonetheless, this unfortunate natural occurrence did not take away the beauty and shine from his speech. The message was loud and clear to all.
Another serious fallout, which without; any doubt, marred Nana Addo's speech to some extent, is the issue of plagiarism. Ie, "I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building your communities and our nation." Some individuals have tried so hard to make us believe that, this was not a plagiarised sentence and even if it were, the patent infringement has since long expired and there was no need to acknowledge either the originator or the source. Whilst some people said it was not an academic piece, he could use it without citing his source, others argued that, there was nothing new under the sun and therefore, language could not be created or invented. I concur with the later view, that, nothing exists in isolation. Everything exists in relation to everything else. So, there is nothing new under the sun. But I believe with all certitude that, old things can be done differently in order to show creativity and ingenuity if not originality. That is why existing languages have been used to create new languages. For instance, Jamaican language (Patua), Swahili, pigeon English and 'Frafra' are creations. Even the formal English language of today is not the same as yesteryears. The bit about it not being an academic work is true, so there was no need to acknowledge the source. Fantastic! What about those who will be using this inaugural speech for academic work in the future? It is even not enough to say it is not an academic work so he needn't quote. Then why did he change the last word of that sentence? The original reading is "I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation character" Was this to make it his or he wanted the speech to resonate with Ghanaians? I think the attempts by people to defend this is in itself defeatist and they should desist from this 'resist'ence.
My conservative advice to these individuals is , they should thread on the side of apology rather than defending the indefensible. Right from the word go, they should put this at the back of their minds that, power belongs to the people and not any group of individuals. Individuals only form groups or parties to exercise mandates on behalf of the citizenry. The people are original owners of political power. Remember this was one of the numerous reasons why the NDC lost the 2016 general elections. Defending the indefensible and window dressing could best be described as arrogance and impudence which Nana Addo's administration should do its utmost to avoid.
As President Nana Addo abundantly made it clear in the same inaugural speech, that, he has three former presidents from whom he will always seek consultations if the needs arise, one would to ask, what prevented Mr. Eugene Arhin - the acting press secretary of the president to do so, especially when the NPP has, arguably, the best three former press secretaries in the history of the fourth republic in the persons of Mr. Kwabena Agyepong, Mr. Andrews Awuni and Mr. Frank Agyekum. What prevented Mr. Eugene Arhin from acknowledging the owner of this statement if he was able to generously and duly attributed quotes to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Dr. J. B. Danquah, Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia and even in the same paragraph - the Holy Bible. I think he erred.
However, my solace about this, is that, the acting press secretary for the president has since come out to apologise to the public and if it is so, we should put this behind and forge ahead as a nation to helping our new president solve the myriad of problems that confront us as a country. It should be an agenda for us all, to make sure that our new president does not fall. And, those of us who are fervently fishing for faults, in the incoming administration just for insults, should revise our notes. A Nana Addo led government would not leave a lean mean for mistakes of previous administrations to occur in his government.
I am not sure that, this 'plagiarism thing' was instigated by NDC as a political party. It was a spontaneous reaction or better still, mischief from the social media. But, the NDC sheepishly latched onto it to make political capital from it. Which miserably backfired, because they are equally guilty of similar offence.
The former president, John Dramani Mahama is also said to have plagiarised the inaugural speech of John F. Kennedy in his 2013 swearing-in. "In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine will rest the final success or failure of our course". What is more dangerous about plagiarism is not just the sheer inability to acknowledge the source, but the deliberate attempt to manipulate or adulterate the original in order to make it your bona fide. And, this was exactly the situation in the case of president John Dramani Mahama. "We all, each and every one of us, have a role to play in the growth and development of our beloved mother Ghana. In our hands - yours as well as mine - rests the success or failure of Ghana's future." Aside this being a serious case of plagiarism, the topic sentence of that paragraph suffers a serious grammatical poverty. And as we say, "to err is human".
To me, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akuf-Addo is not a person of 'crass' to class. But one thing I have learnt from his swearing-in and inauguration is that, with resilience persistence and perseverance one can always over come the insurmountable and achieve higher heights.
As we will all agree, after our consecutive successful seventh general elections, Ghana; our beloved country has won. So whether Ghana is the best among the worst or the best among the rest, we are deemed as the beacon of hope in Africa in terms of democratic practices. We are used as a yardstick to measure democratic and political processes in Africa.
We have witnessed some African countries that went down the drain after elections such as Kenya, Ivory Coast and quite recently The Gambia. We should not allow triviality and pettiness to take centre stage in our body-politic and rob us the success we have chalked in the democratic exercise.
Thnx!
Naa Gbewaah Sidiq folder.
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