…Desperate for party to retain power
…Amidst fuel price reduction, decisive war on pair trawling
By Katakyie Okofotakyi - Ghanaian Chronicle Opinion Tue, 16 Dec 2008
The aftermath of the just-ended Presidential and Parliamentary elections, which virtually ended up in a deadlock, has sent shivers down the spines of President Kufuor and his government. This has left the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration to be doing a lot of thinking through or better still mental gymnastics on some of its decisions and inactions in order to make amends by reverting some of its decisions in order to whisk more votes in the upcoming run-off. Events leading to polls day December 28, 2008 have given a clear indication of how desperate the NPP wants to win and retain power. Over the last couple of days, the government has made a lot of political somersaults, taken certain decisive measures which otherwise would not have been taken if not for political expediency. These include the sudden reduction of fuel prices and the decision to combat the ever-increasing spate of pair trawling by foreign nationals on Ghana's territorial waters, coupled with the supposed release of some 5,000 commercial drivers who were committed to various jail terms by the courts for traffic offences. Prior to the first round of the elections, NPP had hoped to win power by one-touch based on its programmes, policies and achievements. However, that appeared not to have worked the magic. Immediately the election results was announced, Nana Addo had cause to change his campaign team and strategy upon realising that the polls was heading for a run-off. He quickly marshalled forces and launched an intensive campaign to woo more votes. Just as the campaign was gaining momentum in the villages, President Kufuor decided to do what some have labelled as the 'unthinkable' by announcing a reduction in fuel prices. Good as it may be, political pundits and discerning Ghanaians read meanings into it, with the belief that it was meant to canvass for votes. A day or two after the announcement of the reduction in fuel prices; a release was issued indicating government's preparedness to combat the high incidence of pair trawling fishing on our seas. Meanwhile, sources have it that a couple of months before the elections, President Kufuor and his government was advised by political pundits to reduce the prices of petrol in order to reduce the harsh economic conditions which has not been created by the NPP government but the result of the global economic recession. On the contrary, President Kufuor and his government turned a deaf ear on the advice considering the debt government would have incurred as a result of the reduction. Ironically, the results of the December 7, 2008 polls left the President and his government with no other option than to accept the earlier proposal by making a sudden u-turn. This has generated heated debates across the length and breadth of the country. Whilst some especially the opposition National Democratic Congress have likened the reduction to a deceptive ploy by the NPP to win votes after the NDCs Presidential Candidate, Professor John Evans Atta Mills promised to reduce the price of petrol to ¢GH 25.00 if voted into power, the NPP has ridiculed the assertion and defended the reduction as a prudent economic measure which came as a result of the reduction in fuel prices globally. It is however not clear whether the reduction in the prices of fuel would have any effect on the run-off of the Presidential elections which is barely two weeks from now. Tangible as the earlier reason for not reducing fuel prices may be, the controversy surrounding the sudden and rather belated decision to reduce fuel prices and how the NDC is capitalising on it for its campaign has compelled some NPP supporters to raise questions about the credibility of President Kufuor and his advisers considering the timing of the announcement. Some have even gone to the extent of speculating that this has the tendency of affecting the chances of Nana Addo since it is considered to be a temporary measure to influence voters to vote for the NPP. This has made some party faithfuls to blame the President Kufuor for the NPPs performance in the first round of elections. One of the accusations has been that at the time the NDC launched a three-pronged approach with its Presidential Candidate, Prof. Mills, Running Mate, John Mahama and the founder, Jerry John Rawlings busily campaigning in different parts of the country, he (President Kufuor) was seriously jockeying for awards, hopping from one country to the other in search of personal glory and leaving Nana Addo to his fate only to join the NPP campaign just about two weeks to the elections. What seems to bore most party members and baffle the imaginations of party stalwarts was the fact that President Kufuor had time to organise a party to celebrate his 70th birthday anniversary at a time vote counting was ongoing when the party was sitting on tenterhooks. Though Nana Addo was present at the function, his face seemed to tell it all that all was not well. But he had no option than to make an appearance to grace the occasion. In spite of all these, it is the results of the upcoming Presidential run-off which will determine which of the two leading political parties in the country, the NDC and the NPP will have the nod to administer the people. Meanwhile, the NDC promises to give the NPP a good run for its money since it is hell-bent on annexing the governance of the country. Until that decision day, all other things and opinion polls remain nothing but mere speculations because they will not necessary reflect the individual and collective minds of Ghanaian voters.
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