On December 7, 2016, Ghanaians voted against corruption. They voted against impunity. They voted against greed. They voted against a scandal-ridden government. They voted against incompetence. They voted against a government of family and friends. They voted against mismanagement. They voted against stealing, hoarding and splashing in times of election. They voted against a government that placed live charcoal on their palms and forced them to carry it with care and smiles. They voted against insult to their intelligence. They voted for change.
Mr. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur may not have added much to the NDC’s campaign. But I sincerely believe he did not take much away from the fortunes of the umbrella family. If the NDC cares to know why it lost, let them go and look for those who danced to Daddy Lumba’s “Yentie Obiaa” while the nation cried for salvation. Our elders say the disease that will kill a man first breaks sticks into his ears. If there are men and women in the NDC whose ears were sealed with metals, then Amissah-Arthur, was certainly not one of them.
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The defeat suffered by National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the just-ended election was a humiliating one. It was an emphatic rejection an eight-year legacy of two Presidents – Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills of blessed memory [January 2009 to July 2012] and John Dramani Mahama [July 2012 to date]. The incumbent party, with all its resources, campaigned more than an opposition party.
The NDC dwarfed its main contender, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), in every resource-related armory that mattered in the election. But Ghanaians said emphatically that they wanted change, a change that was championed by the NPP’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
I have monitored post-election discussions and read articles on mainstream and on social media about the reasons the NDC lost the election. One major reason that runs through almost all the analyses is the role of Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, the running mate of President John Mahama in the 2016 elections. He seems to be receiving more criticisms in some analyses than the man who was the face of the party – John Dramani Mahama.
His critics say he added nothing to the ticket and, for the fact that his home region fell to the opposition NPP, he was one of the main reasons the NDC lost the election. I agree that the NPP’s running mate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was very instrumental in the victory of the NPP. For this reason, there was an equal expectation from Mr. Amissah-Arthur. However, I think we have been unfair to the Vice-President in the manner we criticise him and lay a chunk of the blame at his doorstep. His contribution may be a minor or insignificant reason for the defeat, and not a major reason, as his critics want us to believe.
Vice-President Amissah-Arthur was the running mate of President Mahama when they won the 2012 elections. Between 2012 and 2016, one could point to 729 sins, which President Mahama committed, and for which reason a voter who endorsed him in 2016 would not want to vote for him in 2016. But I don’t think Vice-President Amissah-Arthur went into the 2016 election with such a dented image. Those who say the NDC lost many seats in Amissah Arthur’s home region should be reminded that when President Mills led the NDC to win the 2008 elections, the NPP had only four seats in the Northern Region. In 2012 and 2016 when President Mahama led the party, the NPP has increased the number of seats in the Northern Region to 14. This is the President’s home region, a region that is loyal to the NDC and does not swing like Amissah-Arthur’s Central Region.
When an incumbent party is contesting election, it often relies on what it has done while an opposition party preaches what it will do. The NDC had been in office for the past eight years and relied on its projects and programmes. The party campaigned mainly on President Mahama’s legacy because it wanted to mask the fact that it had been in power for eight years.
The NPP, which had been in opposition for the past eight years, pointed out to Ghanaians the ills of the government and provided alternatives. Apart from infrastructure developments, which were fraught with allegations of price inflations and fraudulent procurement deals, the NDC did not have a good story to tell in this election. Beyond the photographs in the green book, the NDC as a party and government, was very difficult to market in the run up to the 2016 election. So Dr. Bawumia had more weapons in his armory than Mr. Amissah-Arthur. It is a fact that Dr. Bawumia is far more exciting to listen to than Mr. Amissah-Arthur on the political campaign platform, but the reason the NDC lost had very little to do with a “boring” or “uninspiring” running mate. The outcome of the election was the rejection of a bad legacy, mainly the John Mahama legacy.
Before we argue further, let us try to answer the question why Ghanaians rejected the NDC. Why did the NPP beat the incumbent party with more than one million votes? Did the angry voters who voted against the NDC (or its loyalists who did not vote, as in the case of the Volta Region) do so because they had Amissah-Arthur in mind? I don’t think so.
One of the main reasons the NDC lost was corruption. The NDC government did not give Ghanaians the time to breathe before serving us with one corruption scandal after the other. We became numb and immune to the shocks that should have greeted the breaking of such scandals, but we did not forget them on Election Day. In all the corruption scandals that broke in the last four years, none of them involved Mr. Amissah-Arthur or his office. Not a single report linked him to any of the corruption scandals.
Another reason many people lost faith in the NDC government was the mismanagement of the economy and its attendant problems of unemployment, poisoned business environment among others. The fate of the economy was dictated by the dishonesty of the government. According to the Zimbabwean businessman, Strive Masiyiwa, “Mismanagement and corruption are identical twins. Where you find one, the other is always nearby.”
The NDC’s failure to tame the economy could not be blamed on the lack of ideas. You cannot manage an economy when stealing seems very normal in the government. Our government was practising money laundering of a sort. Taxes and monies that were borrowed were handed over to local and international businessmen and women through dubious contracts. Some of those contracts were simply awarded in order to legitimise, wash or launder the stolen funds. A lot of this happened between July 2012 and December 2012. Anybody who doubts me should check when most of the outrageous and fraudulent contracts in the GYEEDA and SADA scandals were signed. When the NDC under Mahama assumed office in 2013, the economy was already in a mess. It would have taken a magician to turn things around, but the Vice-President wasn’t one, especially when the stealing continued unabated. Mr. Amissah-Arthur did not have a good product to sell in the 2016 election when the issue of the economy came up. He had no good points with which to reply Dr. Bawumia.
Others have also attributed the loss of the NDC to the arrogance of power and impunity government officials displayed in the midst of heavy criticism. The Vice-President did not exhibit these traits, neither were officials from his office involved in the open showcase of opulence and arrogance. The Vice-President was not responsible for the decision to free the Montie 3, who were jailed by the Supreme Court for insulting and threatening Supreme Court judges. Mr. Amissah-Arthur was not the reason the NDC’s founder and former President Rawlings ditched the party.
Some may argue that the Vice-President assists the President and should not be absolved of any wrongdoing of the President. But those who know how things work in our republic will tell you that the Vice-President often has no say in the affairs of the Presidency, at least from our experiences with some past governments. When President Atta-Mills was in charge of our Republic, for instance, the likes of Koku Anyidoho were more powerful than Vice-President John Mahama. And I dare say some of President Mahama’s boys are more powerful than Vice-President Amissah-Arthur. Their words and instructions carry more weight than his.
Mr. Amissah-Arthur was the least of the NDC’s problems. We have not been told of his involvement in any of the numerous scandals that sank and disgraced the government on December 7. His brothers and sisters were not involved in the looting of state property. His wife was not involved in grabbing contracts and stealing from the state without shame. When mention is made of arrogance of power and impunity, he is about the last person that comes to mind in this government.
So let’s spare the old man some slack. He may not have been as inspiring and exciting on the campaign platform, but let us not forget that in 2008, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP was more exciting and inspiring than Professor John Evans Atta-Mills of the NDC, who went on to win the elections.
On December 7, 2016, Ghanaians voted against corruption. They voted against impunity. They voted against greed. They voted against a scandal-ridden government. They voted against incompetence. They voted against a government of family and friends. They voted against mismanagement. They voted against stealing, hoarding and splashing in times of election. They voted against a government that placed live charcoal on their palms and forced them to carry it with care and smiles. They voted against insult to their intelligence. They voted for change.
Mr. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur may not have added much to the NDC’s campaign. But I sincerely believe he did not take much away from the fortunes of the umbrella family. If the NDC cares to know why it lost, let them go and look for those who danced to Daddy Lumba’s “Yentie Obiaa” while the nation cried for salvation. Our elders say the disease that will kill a man first breaks sticks into his ears. If there are men and women in the NDC whose ears were sealed with metals, then Amissah-Arthur, was certainly not one of them.
Source: manassehazure.com
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well done manasseh
Truth and analytical piece from the usual good writer.He however leave out few important factors that contributed NDC's humiliating defeat in the elections. 1. Tribal bigotry shamefully displayed by the NDC and mahama himself the chief culprit. If you analyze the results very well, you could see that the NDC lost most of the Akan areas in almost all the regions. This shows how the Akans stood up and vented their anger to show that, indeed we are the majority in Ghana and no other group could take us for a ride! 2. Another factor is that, the NDC might not have won the 2012 elections after all! Everyone knows that elections was rigged terribly! There are more, which I would outline and detail them in article coming up after the inauguration of the president elect.
IF THE NDC WILL CARE TO KNOW WHY THEY LOST MISERABLY THEN THEY SHOULD READ THIS ARTICLE AND STOP THE BLAME GAME.PRES MAHAMA WAS SIMPLY A DISASTER OF A PRESIDENT.HE DARE NOT COME AGAIN BECOS GHANAIANS DO NOT HAVE A SHRT MEMORY
I totally agree to everything that has been said by the writer. Brilliant analysis of the NDCs loss
You are absolutely right brother,I hope they learn some lessons.
Truth can't be hide Manasseh keep it up
I do not concur with the writer. Bawumia basically opened a second front in the campaign which drew attention the competence of the running mate as a manager of the nation. In doing so, Amissah Arthur (not Mahama) had to repel the onslaught from Bawumia and he failed so pittingly in it. THis was made worse by the fact that both had worked in Bank of Ghana. WHiles Bawumia was able accurately predict economic downturns ahead of time, Amissah-Arthur cluelessly supervised these deterioration, making his professional career as a banker very dubious. Whether you like it or not, Amissah-Arthur helped in no small way to accelerate the demise of Mahama and his ticket of incompetence.
The article is well-balanced, powerful, coherent and very persuasive. Facts don't lie and the writer has done a good job using facts to argue his point. Well done, Manasseh!
The writer Azure is in some attempt to rehabilate Amissah-Arthur but to me it will not wash and his piece will not buy any straw in the market place; what is this Manessah talking about !!!!!!!! ; does he know and understand sigificance of why and how Amissah was made a Vice President and a lamb back up for Jon Mahama ; to me this guy better do some research about this Amissah -Arthur ; because any appointed Vice President in the world including Ghana acts aa a cataylst to help the President in particular areas that the President is devoid of talent because politics is not only the ability to communicate but to have a good master of your brief and skills that the President does not have; it was former President Clinton who once said 'it is the economy stuoooopid'!!!!!!; for me this idea that Jon Mahama and Amissah-Arthur won the 2012 elections was BOGUS and a FRAUD !!!! ; Jon Mahama never won an election 2012 ; Jon Mahama was selected and not elected as AZure seem to suggest besides if you are a selected Presiedent your remit then becomes a licensed Presidential thiff because you do not care about the people and prefer to lut the nations resources as was in the case of Jon Mahama ; the question of Amissah-Arthur as the Vice President becomes irrelevant because you do not need his skills ; Amissah -Arthur was suppose to be the man with the economic brains to steer the economic progress of the country ; did Amissah-Arthur do this -NO ; not even on one occasion did Amissah-Arthur write up a paper on the bad economic situation Ghana found it self ; Amissah -Arthur was rendered irrelevant by Jon Mahama ; the man was appointed upon assurance to Jon Mahama by Atta Mills to award the Vice to before he died because Amissah-Arthur was able to help them with the loop holes at BOG in which massive monies were stolen from the Bank ; when Dr Bawumia laid the gaunlet for Amissah-Arthur to answer some basic economic decisions causing the economy to deep ; Amissah-Arthur just could not stand up to the challenge ; again 'IT IS THE ECONOMY ***barred word*** ' ; DR Bawumia was able to articulte the problems and solutions to the economy whilst Amissah -Arthur went to sleep because he had no answers and could nor match the competition ; Dr Osei Akoto was devasting in parliament and rendered the NDC economic team of which Amissah-Arthur was the Chairperson uless; enough said about this Amissah -Arthur and any attempt to write up any BULL.......S about this CLOWN will not work because there are people who know the the good and intelligent politicians in Ghana who if given the chance will make Ghana a paradise not Amissah-Arthur ;besides have you ever heard Nana Addo challenge Dr Bawumia on economic issues -NO because Nana Adddo TRUST Dr Bawumia to do and say the RIGHT THINGS ; BESIDES 'IT IS THE ECONOMY STOOOOOODI' IF YOU CANNOT RUNM THE ECONOMY NO AMOUNT OF POLITICAL FLAT ,, ULENCE WILL HELP AMISSAH-ARTHUR !!!!!!!
Vintage Manasseh, again. P-Kee was neither ... nor, though he tried to mimic the insulting brigade tjat his boss chaired. Fact is John Mahama was a disaster and I am happy Ghanaians saw through his shalloowneess. He was a communicator who could not communicate; he was a bribe taker who thought everybody else could be bought; he was intolerant though he accused others of same; he'd no clue about economic matters. I believe that another 'powerful' person has been left out of all this postmortem: the fat mosquito and Bui chief ***barred word***. He singlehandedly orchestrated JDM's ascendancy to the leadership of the party which he himself led like a boa constrictor. He, Asiedu Nketia, more than Pkee is the real culprit that people are not factoring in ... and he has wisely gone awal to deflect the spotlight from himself. ... I can write more but ... let's stop a while.