NPP has suffered massive leakage of tapes from its
camp in recent times. It suggests that all is not well in
the internal politics of New Patriotic Party (NPP). Factions have still not
accepted to work in peace and tranquility to ensure smooth victory for their
presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo. It is about “We” and
“Them” within the party.
There are some elders who have circled Akufo Addo,
who beat their chests openly that they love him more than others, have closed
doors to anybody who overtly expressed divergent views about him and are ready
to damage any perceived internal dissenters. These people see themselves as
truly NPP or “Nana nipa” (Nana`s loyalist). These Nana`s loyalists refer to
people who supported Alan Kyeremanten, perceived former President Kufuor
loyalists and all other party neutrals as enemies.
In their meetings and conversations, these
Pro-Alan-Kufuor supporters and neutrals in the party they cannot vouch for
their true allegiance are referred to as “Yaanom.” It’s a new antagonistic term
that separates “True Nana” factions from others. To be tagged “Yaanom” means
you will never ever find peace and joy in the party, let alone be allowed to
get closer to Nana Addo to share your views.
The ‘Yaanoms’ that have been declared persona non
grata near Nana Addo`s residence are leading party personalities like Dr Arthur
Kobina Kennedy, Professor Kwabena Frempong-Boateng, Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe, Dr
Charles Yves Wereko-Brobbey, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Dr. Richard Anane, Mr.
Kwame Pianim, Mr.Kwadwo Mpiani, Mr. Paul Afoko, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong and Ms. Otiko
Afisah Djabah. Some of these personalities can only have a whiff of Akufo Addo`s
presence at NPP national headquarters NEC meetings or peace-broking venues.
That
is the situation in NPP
Leaking of vital information by politicians to outdo
one another in an internal political challenge and jostling for power as well
as external politicking of opposing political parties, is an old tradition.
Leaking is a matter of policy or strategy to implement an agenda. It goes to the roots of psychic that
politicians get their power and influence from supporters that believe that
their trusted political players are there to serve their best interest. To
enable them win the hearts and minds of supporters and sympathizers to the
detriment of their opposing politician contemporaries, leaking of information
is exploited as the best weapon.
It is a means to an end to ensure that opponents
look evil after being pilloried in the court of public opinion over leaked
information and ultimately put a nail in their coffin to become a pariah. Two-dimensional self- leak matrix is
effectively utilized to achieve these aims.
Politicians and their agents secretly record
damaging and confidential information about their opponents and leak it to the
media or leak such negative information about themselves to the media and blame
their opponents for it.
United States of America is the home of classic
leaks. It is part of their day-today serious governance and political
game. In their great article published
in April 9, 2006 edition of Los Angeles Times, titled “In Politics, Leaking
Stories Is a Fine Art,” authors Richard T. Cooper and Faye Fiore revealed that
leaking stories has been the game plan for United States politicians since the
formation of the Republic and, “Washington insiders have long honed the skill,
learning exactly when, or to whom, to disclose secrets in order to advance
their agenda.”
In fact, one of the founding fathers of US,
Alexander Hamilton, the handsome dude whose painting adorns the US$10 bill, and
noted for playing instrumental role in winning popular support for the
Constitution, lost his life-long dream
of becoming US president when someone
told a scandal-mongering journalist about an affair he had had with a married
woman. The leak, Hamilton believed, came from the camp of rival James Madison,
who went on to become the fourth president of the United States.
“Today, leaking has become such a basic part of the
way Washington works that officials hold meetings to decide when, where and how
to leak. They cultivate reporters who can be counted on to make good use of
leaks. They draft memos spelling out official leak policies so that lower-level
officials will know how to leak correctly,” Cooper and Fiore disclosed.
How
the leakages in NPP began
It is this strenuous situation that has led to
effective deployment and subterfuge to record meetings and conversations of
opponents and personalities with ultimate aim of leaking it to the press in
their war of survival, sustenance and consolidation of their hold on power and
support base within the party. This parochial agenda of tape leakages started
first with vile leakage of written text information to the media and mobile
phones users during the NPP flagbearership campaign in 2008.
In that campaign, communications wing of
presidential aspirants leaked various diabolical information about their
colleagues to the press. In one instance, an information was leaked to a
newspaper suggesting that the then sitting vice president and an aspirant, late
Aliu Mahama had no party membership card.
This caused Aliu to cut short his campaign to return to Accra with his
special assistant Yaw Buabeng Asamoa challenging the publication, and also
calling on the party hierarchy to clear the air about what he described as
"the speculative story about my boss" membership card.
On the D-Day of Congress to elect presidential
candidates at University of Ghana, leakage of alleged voices of candidates
conspiring to undermine a particular candidate was texted and shared. The situation
aroused much heat that when Lord Commey was told that Paul Afoko was sharing
dollars to influence voters, he just rush there to slap the man.
2012-2014
leaked tapes
After the Legon Congress, the birth of the era of
leakage of Tapes dawned in NPP. The first leaked tape was the August 2012
recordings of Mr. Kennedy Agyapong (Agyapong tape), in which the Assin MP is
heard saying he will not campaign for Akufo Addo again because NPP has betrayed
him. The tape nearly brought serious rift between Nana`s loyalists and Kennedy
but his constant denials and the massive Public Relations work done by his Oman
Fm quelled it.
In September 2014, another sizzling and explosive
leaked audio recording purported to contain the voice of Minority Leader and
NPP MP for Suame, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu emerged and went viral on Ghanaian
media. The Tape popularly known as (Mensah-Bonsu Tape/Vuvuzelas Tape) had a
voice of the Minority Leader making a number of damning claims, including the
allegation that Nana Akufo-Addo and his entourage spent US$90,000 every weekend
they visited Kumasi during the 2012 electioneering campaign, even though the
flagbearer slept in a private residence.
The voice further claimed the aspiring NPP
flagbearer and his team has misplaced priorities and is spending monies on
luxurious activities when such funds could be used to help win parliamentary
seats. It also said the team allegedly spent millions to buy cars, Vuvuzelas
and other things to the detriment of the entire campaign. After several denials
by the Minority leader, factions close to the flagbearer, especially a
Kumasi-based Pro-Nana Addo group calling itself NPP for Victory 2016 accused
two NPP MPs for Asante Akyem North and Manhyia North, Kwadwo Baah Agyemang and
Collins Owusu Amankwa as the perpetrators/leakers. They denied, expressed fears
and suspicions that "such mischievous claims are only meant to destroy”
their “political career and hard earned reputations”.
True to their feelings
and suspicions, that accusation was drummed into the ears of delegates by
tagging them as anti-Nana Addo MPs during NPP parliamentary primaries leading
to their defeats.
Closing 2014 in grand style of leakages galore,
another tape (Anta Tape) emerged in October 2014 in which the voice of Mr.
Mohammed Amin Anta, the former Municipal Chief Executive of Tamale and a friend
discussing NPP`s internal politics was also heard on the tape saying that Nana
Akuo-Addo offered him three positions to choose from if he joined his camp.
Anta also denied it and Kweku Baako even rubbished it as total bunkum.
2015
leakages
This year has already witnessed serious records of
leaked tapes from NPP camp, and judging from utterances of presenters of
pro-NDC radio stations, Radio Gold and Montie that they have more unreleased
tapes at their disposal, it is likely that more tapes will emerge before the
end of this year and in 2016, if NPP factions continue to do themselves in.
In January this year, Daniel Bugri Naabu, a die-hard
Nana Addo loyalist and Northern Regional Chairman of NPP was captured in a
leaked tape, known as Bugri Naabu Tape, disclosing that the party National
Chairman, General Secretary and Second Vice Chairman, Mr. Afoko, Kwabena Agypong
and Sammie Crabbe respectively, are not to be trusted and for that matter they
are going to be sidelined in the 2016 elections. He went further to state that,
himself (Daniel Bugri Naabu) Freddie Blay the first vice, the party’s running
mate Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, Nana Addo, Nassara coordinator Abdulai Kamldeen,
Sammy Awuku, John Boadu, National Organizer, the other 9 regional chairmen and
some selected NPP parliamentarians would be the core of the 2016 campaign
without the involvement of Mr. Afoko and Kwabena Agypong.
He was captured saying ’’neither Paul Afoko nor
Kwabena Agypong is interested in Naa Akuffo Addo becoming president of
Ghana.” This tape brought Sammy Crabbe
and Fredrick Worsemao Blay into serious friction when Sammy asked for
investigation of the tape and possible sanctions against Mr. Naabu, and Blay
declined.
It must be emphasized that what Naabu said has
recently been openly declared by another Nana Addo loyalist, Mr. Ayisi Boateng
suggesting that Nana should sidelined Afoko and Agyapong.
Trailing immediately after Bugri Naabu Tape, was
Osafo Marfo Tape in February in which the former Finance Minister in the
erstwhile Kufuor administration, Yaw Osafo Marfo voice is heard spewing tribal
comments lamenting about equitable distribution of resources in the country
when, in fact, some regions produced nothing.
This tape annoyed Kennedy Agyapong so much that he went on air to insult
all NPP members as a bunch of “FOOLS.” The words on the Osafo Marfo Tape was
also exploited by the ruling NDC to tag NPP is an ethnocentric and
anti-Northern party at the recent Talensi by-elections when Osafo showed up at
the constituency.
After the this tape also emerged a leaked letter
from Prudential bank-NPP in last May, in
which the bank asked for the payment of a GHC2 million debt owed it by the NPP
with specific mention of Kelli Gadzekpo and
Ken Ofori-Atta. This leaked letter came in the heat of agitation of
impeachment process against Afoko and Agyapong as a result of the acid attack
on the Upper East regional chairman of NPP, Adams Mahama and his eventual death
and terrorist-like takeover of NPP Asylum down headquarters in Accra. Political
watchers, believed that it was this letter that led to Nana Addo undertaking
immediate press conference to advise the INVISIBLE FORCES under Captain Korda,
who have high jacked the Party to vacate the vicinity to allow the Afoko and
Agyapong to work as well as stoppage of collection of signatures to impeach the
two, led by the former General Secretary Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John).
Just as the party is calm and ex-President Kufuor,
despite all the allegations against him as working against Nana Addo and even
has hand in the death of Adams Mahama, as alleged by Kennedy Agyapong, his
recent meetings with leading religious figures to find peace and unity to
protracted NPP internal problems in his Airport residence was recorded and
leaked to the press. As usual, the factions in NPP are engaged in blame game.
But NPP MP for Suhum, Magnus Opare Ansah says he has evidence to prove that NDC
using operatives of National Security recorded Kufuor`s residence meeting.
NDC`s
involvement
Opare Ansah`s allegation is something that NPP has
never come together as one people to think about. It’s a very solid lead and
must be followed to its logical conclusion. NDC is capable of doing this from
Day one by recording NPP conversation using National security operatives and
aggrieved party people in both factions that have locked perpetual horns in the
party.
I hope NPP find their sanity and sense of
forgiveness to finally agree to come together to fight the common opponent, NDC
which has been knocking their heads together for a very long time by exploiting
protracted Alan-Nana rancor.
