In the ensuing cacophony surrounding Nana Konadu’s probable run, a pro-con analysis.
Pro: Konadu has political muscle and relentless ambition to go through a party primary. A major figure within the Rawlings era, her role as first lady was more than ceremonial. She participated in and sometimes led lots of programs and initiatives under her husband’s presidency. Many in Ghana will remember her trailblazing work in gender equity. Under her watch the term “girl-child” and “women emancipation” became popular. She’s ambitious, wields great organizational skills and can get things done. Beyond her social and developmental accomplishments her appetite and mastery of Ghana’s political trajectory is legendary.
Unlike Mills, she doesn’t only have the ability to stomach missiles from the NPP; she’s more than capable of conceiving, assembling and launching her own atomic bombs. With Nana K on top, NDC will be on auto-offensive. In Konadu, they have someone whose iconic status can immediately ignite passion, activism and excitement among the party’s base. Mrs. Rawlings has a Palin problem though. She’ll do great in a party primary but will struggle to garner independent votes needed to win nationally. Her candidature in and of itself should be an exciting one: first female with a serious chance of becoming Ghana’s president.
On a lighter note the video embedded shows Mrs Rawlings dancing at an NDC Norway event.
Cons: That Konadu can lay claim to the presidency—however audacious—shows how little the balance of power within Ghana politics has shifted. Agyeman Rawlings has serious questions to answer regarding her role and that of her husband during “their” military and civilian stewardship of Ghana. I have no doubt Agyeman Rawlings will bring vast experience to governance but there are many who want to move Ghana beyond the shadow of the Rawlings’s. Internally the NDC needs to treat Konadu’s stake with extreme caution because her family’s legacy is indispensable to their electoral prospects. Anyone who deems her presidential experiment facetiously does so at their own risk.
Ps: My suggested campaign slogan for Konadu is to borrow Hillary’s… “buy one get one free
I will be extremely disappointed if another of these Rawlings's comes to rule our country. Rawlings ruled Ghana for 20 plus years and the only thing he can really be credited for is stability and building democratic institutions. They lack the intellectual heavy weight to effect any meaningful change. Rawlings's compatriot, Thomas Sankara ruled Burkina Faso for less than 5 years and in that time achieved triple what Rawlings did in 20 plus years. So when people are saying he held the country together, I tell them that mediocrity. Of course, he did, that his job. Rawlings is high selfish and egotistical. Case in point, all his fellow coup plotters in the revolt of 1979 are either dead or he fell out with them. I used to adore him when I was a kid. But after exposure to more refined leaders like Mills, Sankara, etc, I realize Rawlings is actually irrelevant. The guy doesn't have a clue what he's talking about half the time. All he says is conjecture, ridiculous accusations and emotionally charged rhetoric. He can't achieve. We don't want another minute under these people. Mills is the man. I'd actually prefer Nana Akufo Addo to another Rawlings.
ReplyDeleteGreat comment anonymous. Your observations are closely shared by many Ghanaians who want to see a culture of high-minded politics instead of high handed tactics that was so commonplace during the Rawlings era. Konadu as we know was the engine behind the wheel. For a country with so much potential it saddens me that Konadu and her husband's legacy remain an albatross.No one can wish Rawlingsism away but we must seriously begin to present fresh and forward thinking candidates for a position as important as the presidency. Some of the current crop just don't cut it.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see this blog back and active once more.
ReplyDeleteGiving people the choice of a Rawlings of Akuffo-Addo is like asking to choice between a bullet and a brick wall. There is no choice! The country is gone to the dogs in either case.
We need a revolutionary, an indepedent thinker not either of these snakes under short grass.
Eche and friends, stop hiding out in the US of A and show all those expatriates the way on the Returnee wagon. Ghana's Obama is hiding somewhere among that forward-thinking crop, I just know it.
Thanks anonymous. I'm certainly with you on the need for injection of new blood. I think Ghana deserves the kind of transformational leadership and functional society which engenders individual empowerment and national development.
ReplyDeletePer your comments about returning, you don't even need to mention it mpo. My heart and head is set on that. Just a matter of time.