3NEWS
Is Kabila the NPP’s next Freddie Blay?
Shall I say nothing surprises me anymore? Well, a couple of weeks back, my friend Mr. James Kwabena Bomfeh (aka Kabila), who had acted very well for quite sometime, as General Secretary of the Convention People’s Party(CPP), so badly wanted to be endorsed as the substantive secretary of his party. His campaign was impressive, at least, from what I saw in the media.
For us all, his name is synonymous with the CPP and his poster for the elections said he was enthusiastic about rebuilding Nkrumah’s party to transform Ghana. He called himself the action man who was ready to fight from the corner of the CPP to save this nation (y3 ko agye man). His pride is that he is TRIED, TESTED, PROVEN and TRUSTED.
The elections came, and the turn of events saw him losing the slot to Nana Yaa Gyantua, formerly of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission. Others like Hajia Hamdatu also lost their bid to lead the CPP, kindly, with their lights. On that occasion, Mr. Ivor Kobina Greenstreet was also chosen as flagbearer going into the December 7 polls. And it is instructive to say that the CPP has not given up on its ambition to lead this nation again. Infact, they believe that they have what it takes to break the duopoly of the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party. If you doubt me, check the seriousness with which elements of the CPP are prosecuting this year’s campaign against that of their key contenders: especially the famous FALL and ELECTRIC SHOCK videos?
Now, while all of these went on, Kabila found new love in President Akufo-Addo and endorsed him, over his own party’s Presidential candidate, Mr. Greenstreet. Of course, it is his right and no one can fault him, not even his whatsapp status!
Yet, a few questions remain:
- What happens to the CPP he so badly wanted to lead to wrest power from the NPP and to prevent the NDC from getting another chance?
- What could have caused this switch a few days to the elections (or has the man always harboured thoughts of switching)?
- Who or what hurt him? Who or what is he running away from? Why would he give up on his many years of hardwork?
- Is he not the same KWABENA, who was encouraging us to join him and his comrades, led by KOBINA to break the duopoly of the NPP and the NDC?
- What impact will his switch have on the CPP’s electoral fortunes? Will his constituency within the party leave along with him? What happens to those that joined the party because of him?
- Will he go back to endorse the CPP after this election, or will he kiss the CPP good bye for his ‘breakthrough’ with President Akufo-Addo?
These are simple questions that came to me. Should Kabila answer them? Can he answer them? Will his answers make any difference in the mind of any questioner?
Well, I think that I can give the simple response that politics in Ghana from a CPP platform in the duopoly of NDC-NPP. For about two decades of frontline engagement I can say that NOTHING IS A GIVEN. The future is guaranteed ONLY by God.
While Mr. Bomfeh admits that his politics has been “guided by four unfailing principles: 1. Fear God 2. Speak the Truth 3. Work hard 4. Love humanity”, I continue to wonder why a man will walk away from his 15 years of sweat and experience with the CPP at such a crucial time, by the conduct of his endorsement of President Akufo-Addo and the NPP. What could have chased him out? Was there no one he could trust from within to offer counsel? Because, at least, from afar, he came across as someone who gave his all to bring the CPP up? Or was it the direct opposite for those looking from within? Again, Kabila admits that “sometimes a lot happens that we hardly can appreciate why.” You may disagree, but if people do not see you as what you think you are contributing to a common cause, sometimes, it is better to chart a new course than to stay on and kill yourself.
Could it be that his efforts have not yielded the desired results and he feels that he doesn’t belong
So did the man ditch his party for his parochial interest? “Ditched? he asked. Who ditched the other? Me or the so called party?” he responded. You are free to match his words against the chronology of events to conclude.
Need I say that a considerable amount of the CPP-Kabila-NPP story is yet to be told? Could money have swapped hands as is being speculated in the grapevine? Has Kabila always been NPP? And if he has had a soft spot for the NPP, what is wrong with his choice?
So I quizzed Kabila to know whether or not money had swapped hands. His response was “Johnnie, money is the least of the things on my mind or ambition list. You should know that by now about me?” He continued, “We also live very natural lives and aren’t removed from the burdens of other human beings but credit those who choose to live by some principles. I tend to look at the positive side of life always.”
Given the fact that trust is a subjective concept, the big question is: can the NPP trust Kabila like they have trusted Mr. Freddie Blay who also left the CPP to join the NPP and subsequently has become her chairman?
The news of Mr. Freddie Blay’s defection from the CPP to NPP came as a shock to political watchers. He said at the time that he had been ‘flirting’ with the NPP from year 2000 to 2008 while he was still a full blooded member of the CPP. During those ‘flirtatious’ years, Mr. Freddie Blay was the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and an MP for Ellembelle on the ticket of the CPP.
Indeed, Mr. Blay is on record to have said that his political journey started with the UP tradition (which birthed the NPP), and later he fell in love with the Nkrumaist ideology. But interestingly, the CPP and the UP tradition go way back into time. For example, history has it that Kwame Nkrumah left the GCPP to form the CPP. Again, the likes of Victor Owusu, RR Amponsah, Joe Appiah and others from the CPP later joined the UP. Likewise, J H Owusu Acheampong, A A Munufie and Rt. Hon. Justice D. F. Annan defected from the UP to join the NDC.
Time is the best judge. Anyway, it is just 6 days to December 7, and the Convention People’s Party is still on the big ‘FALL’ agenda!
By Johnnie Hughes, Broadcast Journalist
The post Is Kabila the NPP’s next Freddie Blay? appeared first on 3NEWS.
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