During election years, they put their lives on the line and trek the turf and the terrain morning, afternoon, evening and even through to after midnight to spread the party’s agenda and the visions of their parliamentary and presidential candidates. These overburdened efforts are more significantly seen in rural areas where the distance between communities is a whole journey on rough and rugged bush paths with the possibility of encountering dangerous animals and poisonous insects not to talk about bandits. These men and women leave behind their spouses and children while the single persons will do same to their lovers. And this can continue all year right up to the day and night of elections.
Apart from dangerous animals and insects, these loyal servants of the party do occasionally engagein clashes with their friends on the other side of the political divide. Sometimes it can be so bloody that limps and lives can be lost.
Just as an ordinary Ghanaian who may not be attached to any party, but goes to the polls to vote for a particular candidate because he believes if that candidate wins, his conditions will be better, these party foot soldiers also believe same that when their party wins, they will see positive changes in their lives.
They strongly believe in the party and are ready to lay down their lives for it. And above all they have been promised by the parliamentary and presidential candidate that if they work hard for the party to win the constituency they will be generously rewarded. They get so charged up and nothing can stop them until they see victory after which they know that all their personal problems will be solved.
The truth is foot soldiers in the rural constituencies may not need that much to improve their lives. A few cedi notes could be sufficient working capital to boost their business; getting their unemployed children into nursing, security services or civil service would be a God given gift to the family; having tractors and agriculture inputs brought down to enhance farming in the community will be out of the world highly appreciated and making available small loans for petty traders among others will greatly improve lives. These are all they ask for.
As the days run into weeks and weeks into months and months into years, these hard working foot soldiers get almost nothing in return for their selfless efforts which got someone in Parliament and another in the presidency. Their MP would only give a quick wave at them and would not even sit for a chat. Then another election year approaches and try as hard as they can to replace the non-performing MP, a directive comes from head office that the bloke must be retained unopposed because he was among the most hardworking in the House. He was of great and valuable assistance to the functions of government business in Parliament and the Executive Arm will lose its shine if he is replaced. But what about the foot soldiers losing their shine in the constituency because of him? Party first, they are told.
The foot soldiers become a mockery in the community because even though their party is in power they are worse off than those whose parties are in opposition.
Every day they scrutinize advertisements in the papers and get attached to social media to find out whether there is job opening anywhere for them. They find a few and apply. And to be sure that the application receives the urgency it deserves they do all they can to give a copy to a prominent party member to push it at the top for them. Unfortunately they hear nothing but excuses that the application could not make it because of their age, height and maybe they failed to dot all “i’s” and cross all “t’s.”
What can the matter be? Who is making sure that the president’s promise to better their lives is never fulfilled?
During these moments of frustration and disappointment, a high profile party member seemed to provide the answer to their numerous questions.
Prof. Ken Attafuah, the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA) and one of the highly regarded members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), was on air, boldly stressing the points that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addohad instructed him not to hire any party executive at the NIA. Adding that the president’s vision was to build a neutral public service and so he was doing what the law permits and in line with the President’s legacy. He concluded by saying the public needs to ensure political neutrality in public service.
Very straight forward and self-explanatory but at the same time confusing. Is Prof Attafuah saying the President actual said this and that if one wants to be employed into public service, then they must make sure they are politically neutral? Then what happens during campaign seasons? Are the foot soldiers to maintain their neutrality and stand aside, not engaging in anything that will suggest they support NPP? If this can guarantee them the jobs they so badly need then certainly they will stay aloof and be unconcern about political activities during the political season. But and a big “But,” are those on the other side reading and accepting this script? Will they engage strictly in political neutralisation when it comes to awarding jobs and contracts when their party wins elections to form government?
Did the President ever say those things or was he quoted out of context? If he did then the question is why did he not live according to his own principle? The party’s national chairman for example was appointed chairman of a top state enterprise and the list is long. The question is, which party executive members are to be exempted from getting employed into public service? Surely the President could be misquoted. Was it that Prof Attafuah told him of problems he was getting from party executive members on daily basis about employment into NIA, that the President made such a directive?
A leading member of the ruling party, Gabby AsareOtchereDarko, brought in more confusion when he commented on the issue at hand. In one breath he demanded Prof Attafuah apologises for his unwise statement which to him stamped the expectations and hopes of unemployed party loyalists. He added that it was wrong to believe that the President would have made that statement.
Then in a turn around, Gabby is asking party members to see the principle in what Prof Attafuah said. Adding that recruitments must not be based on party lines but on the fact that one must be a loyal citizen and competent.
He went on to advise all NPP members not to fight Prof Attafuah but see the positive spin in the statement he made that implied that for the NPP, it is always Ghana first.
So is Gabby saying here that when one was to apply for a job one must be neutral of any party connection? Then is he not confirming what Prof Attafuah said the President said? Why should he then ask Prof Attafuah to be wise and apologise to the larger party members when in his view what the Executive Secretary was sacrosanct and very principle?
If indeed it is true that the President instructed Prof Attafuah not to employ party foot soldiers in NIA then surely that will not be the only place where this ban will be in place. So this could explain the disappointments of the foot soldiers.
But can the President truly say such a thing and make sure this directive is carried out in the public sector? How can we save the President?
Can we suggest that Prof Attafuah as stated earlier was having unnecessary pressure from Jubilee House, National and Regional Headquarters to employ unqualified party activists into the Authority and he had to complain to the President, who might have told him that he should first look at the competence of the applicant and not at his or her activeness in the party?
Even though I believe in “Jobs for the Boys” as a way of making the grass roots believe more in the party they would always want to die serving, I also believe that it is Ghana which must be the winner in all this and so unless a party member duly qualifies for a job they must be dropped and something else found for them.
Coming out with a fiat that no party executive including foot soldiers must be appointed into public service because they have tainted themselves with partisanship, is like saying one has built a school, employed the best academic staff to make it among the best in the country. Admission is opened to all except to his own children, who he sends to less endowed school. It just does not make sense.
Before Prof. Attafuah is crucified by his own, we need to hear something from the presidency to explain exactly what the President said and that is if he ever made such comments. We should remember that Gabby AsareOtchereDarko finds the statement very principled and is demanding party members to see all that is positive in it and go propagating this to all Ghanaians to indicate that in the NPP, Ghana comes first.
The question is how can one explain these to someone who has been sacrificing his or her all for the party since 1992 and yet have not been rewarded for their efforts? In view of this and with Prof Attafuah volunteering to explain why their lives have not improved, one may wonder whether NPP can break the eight.
Hon Daniel Dugan
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.
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