The jostling in the ruling New Patriotic Party in the run-up to choosing a Standard bearer is getting heated up by the day.
Two main blocs have been identified after the current president HE Nana Akufo Addo had his fair share of leadership in the party.
Whiles many thought it was the time of Mr. Alan John Kyeremateng to be Atandard bearer, here appears suddenly the current Vice President, not only showing strongly interest, but having a section of party members following.
Meanwhile the hard core Alan supporters in the party do not seem perturbed as they are sure of an effortless victory for Mr. Kyeremateng in the upcoming delegates congress.
But before then, some supporters from both camps have resulted to sharing their views and countering others’ to prove the strength of their choice and the weakness of the other.
Enjoy this one from E.G. Buckman.
Dear Terry,
I promised to reproduce for you and the good people of the NPP an excerpt from an article I wrote to rebut a substance-less article written by one Kwame Osei Kufuor and, by extension, Obosu Mohammed. The excerpt deals with the phony Bawumia-effect theory. I have added a few lines to it for your perusal and hope it would add to your knowledge and information. Below is what I promised you. Enjoy it!
“Kwame, bear with me, as I use the concluding part of my rebuttal to address the so-called Bawumia-effect theory that really never was, even though you didn’t bring it up in your article. Those of you who believe in the theory maintained that, but for what the Alhaji did in the northern part of the country, the NPP would have lost the election. According to you guys, there was no Nana Addo-effect in the northern part of the country. It was Bawumia-effect all the way! Apparently, the theory was planned, propounded and unleashed on the night of the election to boost the Alhaji’s political fortunes relative to the 2023 presidential primary.
Never in the history of the party has any single person taken credit for the party’s electoral fortunes in any particular part of the country. We never had Aliu-effect when his partnership with Kufuor gave the party two successful terms with a clear majority in parliament. So, if someone says yentow ndwom mfra no a, then it is only fair and proper that we interrogate the facts and figures surrounding the claim. Don’t you think so Kwame? So, let’s go! Below are the facts and figures.
In 2016, when we had only three Regions in the northern part of the country, the NPP won 21 parliamentary seats in the whole northern part of the country with the following breakdown: 13 seats in the Northern Region, 5 seats in the Upper West Region and 3 seats in the Upper East Region. Then came 2020, when over 60% of the party’s campaign resources for the entire country were channeled to the northern part of the country to create an effect, as it were, for the Vice-President to boost his fortunes in the upcoming 2023 presidential primary.
So, let’s see the effect the Vice President was able to create with all the resources that were at his disposal. The NPP won 20 parliamentary seats with the following breakdown: 4 seats in the North East, 9 seats in the Northern, 1 seat in Upper East, 3 seats in Upper West and 3 seats in the Savannah. So, you see, the Bawumia-effect was negative in this sense, as the party tumbled from 21 seats to 20 seats, with a net loss of one seat. Don’t forget we lost the Speakership because the numbers weren’t on our side. Should I increase the volume small for you Kwame?
Significantly, note this, in the 2020 elections, the only parts of the country where the NDC couldn’t outclass the NPP in terms of resources are the northern part, the traditional NPP strongholds and, perhaps, Hohoe, Ajumako Enyan Essiam and Cape Coast South Constituencies. In almost all other constituencies where the NPP lost, the NPP parliamentary candidates couldn’t just keep up with the NDC’s sharing of real cash and other resources.
The NDC were very strategic in the sharing of their limited resources. They were wise not to waste resources in the NPP strongholds, as we needlessly did in their strongholds in the northern part of the country to create the so-called Bawumia-effect. They concentrated their limited resources in their strongholds that were considered threatened and the swing constituencies. Their strategy really paid off. The situation was even worse for the NPP in the Central Region where the party fell from 19 seats in 2016 to 10 seats in 2020, with a net loss of 9 seats.
Now, Kwame, let me open your blinded political eyes to the real Bawumia-effect on the fortunes of the party in the last election. Do you know that apart from the poor handling of the party’s parliamentary primaries in certain constituencies, most of the seats the NPP lost in the 2020 elections were as a result of lack of resources and minor projects in those constituencies? In some of the constituencies, a mere construction of culverts and a few kilometers of roads would have made a huge difference.
Yet, some people in the party imprudently caused so much resources to be channeled into the creation of the Bawumia-effect at the expense of other regions and constituencies. Watch this Kwame, if just 10% of what was taken to the northern part of the country to create the so-called Bawumia-effect, had been used in the Central Region for example, which happens to be a swing region, the likes of Andah wouldn’t have lost and the NPP would have had a clear majority in parliament.
You see, the real Bawumia-effect is that the NPP lost its clear majority, partly due to the fact that massive resources were skewed in his favor to create an effect that never was. That is why immediately after the election you guys started the phony Bawumia-effect noise. Unfortunately, the effect turned out to be rather negative on the party.
Instead of focusing on the election itself, some people were focusing on creating an effect for the Alhaji, hence the inequitable distribution of the party’s election resources in favor of the Vice’s campaign team in the northern part of the country. My brother, don’t tell me you haven’t heard that some of the party bigwigs were not happy with the way too much resources were being sent to the northern part of the country, essentially, to the neglect of other constituencies.
Now, let me take you to the very backyard of the Alhaji to see how the Bawumia-effect fared there. Kwame, if you didn’t know, let me bring to your knowledge that the Alhaji traces his roots to Walewale and Nalerigu-Gambaga constituencies. So, let’s see what happened in those constituencies. You see, I have taken my time to explain things to you with facts and figures so that you can understand the real meaning of the Bawumia-effect.
It may interest you to know that in Nalerigu-Gambaga, the party’s fortune dropped significantly from 52% in 2016 to 47% in 2020, resulting in the party losing the parliamentary seat to the NDC. My brother, do I need to increase the volume for you? What an effect!
Not only that, in the Walewale Township where the Alhaji casts his vote, out of the 35 polling stations, the NPP won only 4 in the 2020 elections. No wonder the party’s fortune fell from 55% in 2016 to 53% in 2020. What an effect! Kwame, everything I have said here is verifiable so don’t frown your face or insult me in your head.
Kwame, I would be looking forward to your next article my brother. By God’s grace, I have purchased a new laptop. Thus, I don’t have to borrow one from my good friend from Dwen Hwe Kan Krom anymore. My brother, before I pen off, kindly bring your right ear close to me so that I can whisper some small kokonsa into it. No no, I didn’t say the left ear, I said the right one! Do you know that most of the people who are wearing the Bawumia T-shirts are also wearing another T-shirt beneath it? Oh, they are all waiting for the right time to show the real one beneath. Noko fio is the reason! Abeg, don’t tell the Alhaji. A friend of mine once told me that Sun Worshippers bow to the rising sun, not the setting sun.
Remember, the name is E. G. Buckman. Hope to meet you one of these days.
Shalom Shalom!”
