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Dear Kwame Osei Kufuor,

I decided to sleep small after my article with the tittle Why Would the NPP Want to Commit Political Suicide in 2024, but you just disturbed my sleep with your phony noise. Kwame, what have you done? I normally wouldn’t respond to articles or write-ups that are not intellectually, logically and analytically grounded. I believe articles are meant to educate, inform and guide those who read them. Thus, when they are malevolently presented without any serious substance, they tend to mislead and misinform. Unfortunately, your article, “Facts on Alan’s Chances under the Shade of NPP”, happens to be one without substance. Forgive me if you feel offended. After reading it thrice, I couldn’t really grasp its import.

You only sought to put some words and figures together to impugn the popularity and marketability of Hon. Alan Kyerematen. It is obvious his popularity and marketability is something you have been having nightmares about, as they put him in a pole position ahead of any other potential candidate. Since we belong to one big family, as I did to my good friend Razak, let me welcome you also to the table of wisdom and understanding where we can agree to disagree without hurting each other and, for that matter, the fortunes of the party. I intend to magnanimously serve you with a cocktail of responses so that you and another good friend of mine, Mohammed Obosu, can enjoy it.

Before I proceed any further, let me share with you something interesting that the tactics you are employing remind me of. Your tactics remind me of something that happened to me in my childhood days – very funny but insightful. I grew up in a neighborhood where fighting was part of our everyday life. Hardly one stepped out without a fight. As a result, my dad provided us with a very eccentric solution which rather got us into more troubles. He told us (me and my senior brother) that anytime we engaged in a fight and we were being beaten by a stronger opponent, we shouldn’t forget to make use of our teeth. Unfortunately for me, the more I made use of my teeth, the more I was beaten harder and harder. The stronger opponents didn’t have to retaliate with their teeth anytime I bit them in a fight, as their natural strength was enough to get my back to the ground in pain and tears. Indeed, you guys are really making use of your teeth.

There is no gainsaying that in the run-up to the 2023 presidential primary, Alan Cash is already in a pole position, as the majority of the party members think that per the party’s tradition, this is his time. Kwame, perhaps you are one of the fortunate few who have become “potbellied” since 2016, like how the renowned opportunistic stomach politician, Allotey Jacobs, became potbellied when the late Prof. Mills became president and keeps enlarging his potbelly currently by singing the praises of the President and the Vice for favors. Isn’t it interesting how my uncle, Allotey Jacobs, has now become more Catholic than the Pope? He even has the political hutzpah to tell us who we should select as our candidate. Can you imagine Kwame? Perhaps you don’t see anything wrong with the fact that he is now enjoying in the party while the majority of the party members are defending the 2021 Budget in the various constituencies on empty stomachs. Asem o! As for me, Mr. Martin Amidu is still on my mind.

You see, unlike the likes of you who are currently enjoying and selfishly seeking to perpetuate your political gains and fortunes even when it is so obvious that your preferred candidate would not be a good candidate for the party, the majority of the good people of the party at the grassroots, who are yet to benefit from their shed sweat, blood and tears, believe that the tradition of the party should not be broken. If Alan, who is a founding-member and one of the few early major financiers of the party, was asked to wait for his time, then it is quite fair, proper and reasonable to ask someone who only joined the party in 2007 to wait for his turn. Don’t you think so Kwame? After all, not everyone in the party has been as fortunate as Alhaji Bawumia who was brought in when others had already sacrificed the lives, careers and resources to make the party what it was before he joined some of these people I am talking about are still alive but have nothing to show for their sacrifices.

You remember the Alhaji was brought in 2007 to become a running-mate and, for that matter, a card-bearing member of the party because of the Southerner Christian-Northerner Muslim winning formula the party had devised for itself, following the Great Alliance debacle. Kwame, I hope you know he wasn’t picked on any merit, as he was not even a member of the party at the time. That is why a section of the party bigwigs believe that his relentless quest to overthrow the very formula that gave him the golden opportunity to become the Vice-President ahead of many party loyalists who had been around since 1992, resembles greed. You see, if the party’s would-be delegates don’t insist on the wait-for-your-turn tradition of the party, then they would be given credence to a situation where people just join the party and begin to eat with their ten fingers while the long-serving members continue to work for the party on empty stomachs. Kwame, I am one of those who believe that 8 years at the presidency is enough for the Alhaji.

Immediately after the election, the likes of you took to the social media in a well-coordinated fashion to promote your preferred candidate at the time many people had not even recovered from the unfortunate electoral feverishness and diarrhea they had to endure as a result of the kind of heart-wrenching results that were emerging from the various constituencies across the country. I do not intend to remind people of some of the horrible moments they had to endure because of their love for the party, but Kwame, I can tell you that in many NPP households, including mine, demand for toilet rolls sharply increased, as people had to frequently visit the white ceramic bowl in fear and anxiety. It wasn’t easy at all.

My sister and the husband completely lost their appetite and ability to sleep until the Electoral Commission declared the final results. I won’t tell you the number of times each visited the white ceramic bowl but it was that bad. Never again should we allow such thing to happen to the good people of our party, hence my insistence that in a country of 72% Christians, the last thing a political party would want to do to win an election, in a very competitive political environment, is to present a non-Christian candidate against a Christian candidate of the rival party. That would be politically unwise considering the fact that in every society there are religious or faith fanatics who would always put their faith above politics. Kwame, 72% is too large a number to toy with, especially when our margin of victory in the last elections wasn’t very good. Honestly, it would be a needless senseless risk and waste of resources and, eventually, power.

Again, even before the President and the Vice himself were sworn into office, you guys chose to disingenuously propound and propagate a laughable theory (Bawumia-effect) to give the wrong impression to the good people of party that but for Alhaji Bawumia, the NPP would have lost the election. As Kweku Baako would say, go and tell this to the marines. Who in this country doesn’t know that it was the free SHS that won Nana Addo the presidency? Kwame, as a result of the noise some of you are making on the social media with this Bawumia-effect theory, I am compelled to bring to the knowledge of the good people of the party the real Bawumia-effect on the fortunes of the party in the 2020 elections in this piece. I won’t mince my words at all.

As Alan keeps dominating the political space with his competence, character, and his gentle and magnetic personality, some of the supporters of Alhaji like you have resorted to the use of your teeth in the most unsavory manner. Sadly, you have started to engage in what I call anything-goes kind of politics. Unfortunately, facts and truths have become the most affected victims, as they constantly get twisted at every turn. In actual fact, you guys are throwing anything and everything you get hold of into the pool just to make it murkier for the Cash man. Now, before I respond directly to your write-up and the so-called Bawumia-effect, Kwame, bear with me to bring to your memory some of your camp’s failed tactics.

In your desperation to position your preferred candidate to catch up with Alan Cash in terms of marketability and popularity within the broader rank and file of the party, you resorted to unconventional teeth-biting tactics. You began with your most heartless and vicious propaganda yet by putting on Alan your wickedly tailored garment of sickness. From your camp came the unfortunate rumor that Alan was suffering from a certain incurable disease and, as a result, it wouldn’t be advisable to present him as a candidate. That was far below the belt my brother. And, when you realized that that diabolical mission was not going to inure to your advantage, you hurriedly took it off the table. Should you guys be that desperate?

And, as if that wasn’t malicious enough, you guys deliberately inundated the social media with a viral video to suggest that the President’s trusted prophet, Apostle Owusu Bempah had prophesied that God had already chosen Dr. Bawumia to be the party's next presidential candidate. Interestingly, when the man of God came out openly and angrily to refute that claim and threatened legal action, you guys quietly found a nice way to kill the viral video. Another failed mission was registered!

Again, you guys hatched yet another tactics of deception in the name of research findings. Suddenly, there was this talk about research findings from the northern part of the country that suggested that the good people of the northern part of the country would completely reject the NPP should the party reject Alhaji Bawumia at the 2023 Congress. This deception was fed directly into the very blood stream of the party which is the grassroots. Unfortunately for you guys, it has now come to light that there was no such research findings and that a group of people from your camp deliberately created it to put fear in the hearts of potential delegates to the benefit of the Alhaji. This one too didn’t fly.

And, when everyone thought you guys had exhausted all your nefarious tactics, you surprised everyone with yet another episode of falsehood. Your claim that Ex-President Kufuor has now completely abandoned Alan for the Alhaji, is not only untrue, it is also hypocritical. You guys have been doing all you could to make it seem credible and true. Please, don’t drag the old man into the kind of politics you are doing. The old man, as wise as he is, has been quiet over what is currently happening in the party. But I dare to ask! Which wise man would remove his intestines and replace them with cotton wool? At the right time, he would give us one of his wise sayings to serve as a guide to the delegates. Again, when you guys realized that the Kufuor move was rather a counterproductive, you quickly slowed down on it, even though some of you are still peddling it subtly. Another failed mission!

My brother, this brings me to your article. Kwame, you do all! Let me give you some fans my brother. As I read your write-up for the third time, I could imagine how you struggled to write it. It takes extra effort to come up with an article that is essentially hollow. Your illogical analysis was the first to catch my attention. Well, you weren’t the only person who struggled with it. I also did struggle to understand the sagacity behind it. That if someone had lost presidential primaries in his own party in the past, then the person cannot be a marketable candidate in a general election. What kind of senseless logic is this my brother? Kwame, don’t be quick to be offended by the word senseless. It is not being used to insult your person. It is only being used as an adjective to qualify the logic you put forward.

Kwame, I find your lack of understanding of politics quite legendary. Without doubt, all the figures you put forward regarding the results of the previous NPP presidential primaries were right, but your lack of understanding of the reasons behind those figures is exceedingly worrying. Who in the NPP doesn’t know that after 2008 elections, the party’s Electoral College was purposely expanded to favor Nana Addo. It is a common knowledge in the party. Once that change was made, many of us knew there was no way Alan was going to be able to unseat Nana Addo. Remember, Nana Addo had jointly and emotionally gone into the 2008 election together with every party executive, member and sympathizer at the time and had lost painfully after the second round. So, it was extremely easy for him to win the support of the delegates at the next Presidential primary. A person doesn’t need to study political science 101 to comprehend this basic political deduction. The result Alan had in that primary had nothing to do with his popularity within the party. It had everything to do with the sympathy votes Nana Addo was able to attract due to, as I have already indicated, what happened in the 2008 elections.

The same pattern of sympathy-driven voting was repeated during 2014 primary. Remember, purportedly, Nana Addo had just had his victory stolen from him in the 2012 presidential election which ended up at the Supreme Court and ran the legal sequence for over a year. So, the sympathy was even massive, as was shown by that abnormal results. Let me ask you this Kwame! Why do you think John Mahama also went to court? To replay the same political strategy of course! Significantly, there is something you also need to understand and, that is, apart from the massive sympathy Nana Addo was able to attract with his strategy, many delegates were of the view that Alan should wait for his time after Nana Addo. Many felt age was on his side so he could wait. That message was sent to him loud and clear by the delegates and the general membership of the party. No wonder the majority of the party people are now saying that it is Alan’s time. The tradition remains unabated.

Kwame, another aspect of your article that caught my attention was your deliberate repetition of the phrase “Kufuor faction”. The phrase appeared ten times. What were you seeking to achieve with those repetitions? Not only that, you also kept repeating “Nana Addo-Bawumia ticket” with reference to the 2010 and 2014 presidential primaries when you know that no one goes into presidential primary with a vice-presidential candidate on the ticket. Interesting! If it is your strategy to engage in the politics of divisiveness to the advantage of your preferred candidate, then reconsider your strategy. It is not automatic that all those who voted for Nana Addo would vote for the Alhaji. So, you better stop this kindergarten “Nana Addo-Bawumia ticket” tactics.

The two are completely different political personalities with two distinctive historical connections to the party. One has been with the party from the very beginning whereas the other is a latter-day-saint who just joined the party in 2007. If you care to know, most of the people who campaigned, supported and voted for Kufuor at the 1998 Sunyani Congress, voted for Nana Addo at the 2007 Legon Congress. They didn’t vote for Alan, even though they knew he was Kufuor’s preferred candidate. Why? Because they felt it was Nana Addo’s time. The party has a tradition that was established by the ordinary members of the party who shed their sweat, blood and tears on the streets of our country. Kwame, I can assure you, the good people of the party would not allow the tradition to be broken by someone who just joined the party in 2007. Never!

The Alhaji would be made to learn how to be in the queue for his turn just as Kufuor, Nana Addo and Alan. Well, I still believe that the current political market conditions don’t favor his political ambition. I wish to propose three conditions under which the party may consider putting him up as a candidate after Alan. First, when the NDC presents a known non-Christian candidate. Second, when the NDC presents an extremely weak candidate. Third, when the NPP is able to consistently win with a significant margin of 60% and more. Undoubtedly, Alhaji is a very good man, but under the current market conditions, it would be extremely risky to present him as a candidate.

Kwame, bear with me, as I use the concluding part of my rebuttal to address the so-called Bawumia-effect theory that really never was, even though you didn’t bring it up in your article. Those who believe in the potency of this theory maintained that, but for what the Alhaji did in the northern part of the country, the NPP would have lost the election. According to them, there was no Nana Addo-effect in the northern part of the country. It was Bawumia-effect all the way! Apparently, the theory was planned, propounded and unleashed on the night of the election to boost the Alhaji’s political fortunes relative to the 2023 presidential primary.

Never in the history of the party has any single person taken credit for the party’s electoral fortunes in any particular part of the country. We never had Alieu-effect when his partnership with Kufuor gave the party two successful terms with a clear majority in parliament. So, if someone says yentow ndwom mfra no a, then it is only fair and proper that we interrogate the facts and figures surrounding the claim. Don’t you think so Kwame? So, let’s go! Below are the facts and figures.

In 2016, when we had only two Regions in the northern part of the country, the NPP won 21 parliamentary seats in the whole northern part of the country with the following breakdown: 13 seats in the Northern Region, 5 seats in the Upper West Region and 3 seats in the Upper East Region. Then came 2020, when over 60% of the party’s campaign resources for the entire country were channeled to the northern part of the country to create an effect, as it were, for the Vice-President to boost his fortunes in the upcoming 2023 presidential primary. So, let’s see the effect the Vice President was able to create with all the resources that were at his disposal. The NPP won 20 parliamentary seats with the following breakdown: 4 seats in the North East, 9 seats in the Northern, 1 seat in Upper East, 3 seats in Upper West and 3 seats in the Savannah. So, you see, the Bawumia-effect was negative in this sense, as the party lost one seat. Don’t forget we lost the Speakership because the numbers weren’t on our side. Should I increase the volume small for you Kwame?

Significantly, note this, in the 2020 elections, the only parts of the country where the NDC couldn’t outclass the NPP in terms of resources, are the northern part, the traditional NPP strongholds and, perhaps, Hohoe and Cape Coast South Constituencies. In almost all other constituencies where the NPP lost, the NPP parliamentary candidates couldn’t just keep up with the NDC’s sharing of real cash and other resources. The situation was even worse in the Central Region where the NPP fell from 19 seats in 2016 to 10 seats in 2020, with a net loss of 9 seats. Now, Kwame, let me open your blinded political eyes to the real Bawumia-effect on the fortunes of the party in the last election.

Do you know that apart from the poor handling of the party’s parliamentary primaries in certain constituencies, most of the seats the NPP lost in the 2020 elections were as a result of lack of resources in those Constituencies? Watch this Kwame, if just 10% of the massive resources that were taken to the northern part of the country to create the so-called Bawumia-effect, had been used in the Central Region for example, which happens to be a swing region, the likes of Andah wouldn’t have lost and the NPP would have had a clear majority in parliament. You see, the real Bawumia-effect is that the NPP lost its clear majority, partly due to the fact that massive resources were skewed in his favor to create an effect that never was. That is why immediately after the election you guys started the Bawumia-effect noise. Unfortunately, the effect never was.

Instead of focusing on the election itself, some people were focusing on creating an effect for the Alhaji, hence the inequitable distribution of the party’s election resources in favor of the Vice’s campaign team in the northern part of the country. My brother, don’t tell me you haven’t heard that some of the party bigwigs were not happy with the way too much resources were being sent to the northern part of the country, essentially, to the neglect of other constituencies.

Now, let me take you to the very backyard of the Alhaji to see how the Bawumia-effect fared there. Kwame, if you didn’t know, let me bring to your knowledge that the Alhaji traces his roots to Walewale and Nalerigu-Gambaga constituencies. So, let’s see what happened in those constituencies. You see, I have taken my time to explain things to you with facts and figures so that you can understand the real meaning of the Bawumia-effect. It may interest you to know that in Nalerigu-Gambaga, the party’s fortune dropped significantly from 52% in 2016 to 47% in 2020, resulting in the party losing the parliamentary seat to the NDC. My brother, do I need to increase the volume for you? What an effect!

Not only that, in the Walewale Township where the Alhaji casts his vote, out of the 35 polling stations, the NPP won only 4 in the 2020 elections. No wonder the party’s fortune fell from 55% in 2016 to 53% in 2020. What an effect! Kwame, everything I have said here is verifiable so don’t frown your face or insult me in your head.

Kwame, I would be looking forward to your next article my brother. By God’s grace, I have purchased a new laptop. Thus, I don’t have to borrow one from my good friend from Dwen Hwe Kan Krom anymore. My brother, before I pen off, kindly bring your right ear close to me so that I can whisper some small kokonsa into it. No no, I didn’t say the left ear, I said the right one! Do you know that most of the people who are wearing the Bawumia T-shirts are also wearing another T-shirt beneath it? Oh, they are all waiting for the right time to show the real one beneath. Noko fio is the reason! Abeg, don’t tell the Alhaji. A friend of mine once told me that Sun Worshippers bow to the rising sun, not the setting sun.

Remember, the name is E. G. Buckman. Hope to meet you one of these days.

Shalom Shalom!