Countdown to ‘November showdown’
I have always had boundless admiration for those who put themselves up to be elected into public office, especially those who have no business entertaining such dreams in the first place.
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It is quite easy to predict those campaigns that will end up in an ignominious, twisted heap.
Particularly in our part of the world, the journey to elected office is gruelling and takes both a financial and physical toll, and sometimes even more.
I, for one, have never contemplated running for political office in any capacity.
I simply do not believe I have the stamina for this journey.
NPP Superdelegates conference
I believe I am not the only one who wondered why some of the candidates for the race to become NPP flag bearer even bothered to sign up in the first place.
The results of the NPP’s superdelegates exercise over the weekend to trim down the excess fat on the list of hopefuls from 10 to 5 confirmed this.
But then I suppose each of the 10 felt he had a good reason to throw his hat into the ring.
After all, running such a campaign costs good money.
Now the first storm is over, the clouds have cleared, and each of them has seen his ‘smoothness levels’.
I think it was clear to many that Dr Bawumia would win on Saturday and it indeed came to pass, even if some seek to water it down with assertions of the Vice-President being the ‘establishment candidate’.
But perhaps the biggest surprise outcome was the fact of Mr Ken Agyapong beating Mr Alan Kyerematen to second place.
For Mr Agyapong’s supporters, and indeed some political watchers, this is a big deal, because Mr Kyerematen is not only a huge figure in the party but has also been on the primaries road on two previous occasions and knows a thing or two about national campaigns.
The Assin Central MP’s supporters feel quite emboldened and I do not think anyone can begrudge them.
Psychological effect
I do not believe for one minute that the supporters of Mr Kyerematen are comfortable with their candidate coming third in this race.
They must be sorely disappointed and I believe are currently doing an introspection, as they must.
Of course, for perfectly understandable reasons, many of them on social media have nonchalantly shrugged it off and sought to water it down as almost inconsequential.
They say that what is important is to be within the ‘Group of Five’, which their candidate has achieved.
They argue that November, when over 200,000 delegates will vote to select a flag bearer, is what matters most, and that their candidate has grass-roots appeal and will win hands down.
Of course, in political campaigns, the adage is to adopt Accra Hearts of Oak’s slogan, ‘never say die until all the bones are rotten.’
It would be suicidal for them to show despondency at this stage.
Even if the ship is going down, the band must play on.
Whilst I admire those in the Kyerematen camp who bravely seek to mask their pain by pointing to the Vice-President as the establishment candidate who benefited from financial manipulation and political arm-twisting, two realities remain.
The first is that Mr Kyerematen was also beaten by Mr Agyapong – a man nobody can call an establishment candidate.
The second is the psychological effect on the campaign of being overtaken by two novices to the party’s presidential primaries, even if not admitted.
The Bawumia camp is obviously basking in the sunlight of the win on Saturday and I am sure are savouring in particular, the results from Ashanti Region, Mr Kyerematen’s home region, which he lost to Dr Bawumia.
He also won in each of the 16 regions and at the National Headquarters in Accra.
Many of his supporters believe that this is a sign of things to come, and that the main delegates will align with the superdelegates as they did back in 2014.
As stated earlier, Team Ken must be thrilled with second position, and for good reason.
His supporters also claim that their colourful, firebrand candidate who loves to speak his mind has the masses eating from his hands and that the party grass roots will swarm to him in November to cause perhaps the biggest political upset in the party and in the country.
Showdown in November
Each of the three camps mentioned – Bawumia, Agyapong and Kyerematen – have legitimate arguments and reasonable claims flowing from last Saturday’s contest.
I focus on the top for the purposes of today solely on the basis of the fact that they have generated the most political commentary since the results were declared.
I think it is simplistic and premature to write off the contest on Saturday and the results as simply a sifting exercise for a pool of five and no more.
It goes deeper than that.
But equally, it would be dangerous to presume that the results automatically mean a repetition of the same order in November.
Complacency is a disease, they say.
The real ‘showdown’ (to borrow Ken’s trending word since Saturday) is in November, and I would like to believe that the candidates and their campaign teams will be frantically crisscrossing the country to try to woo the grass roots of the party with all the seriousness and ardour of a sweaty street preacher with a cranky microphone seeking souls for Christ.
The countdown to the ‘November Showdown’ has just begun.
Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng,
Head, Communications & Public Affairs Unit,
Ministry of Energy,
Accra.
E-mail: [email protected]