2024 Polls: Eschew arrogance, be forthright and show tenacity of purpose – Asah-Asante tells NDC on outdooring of Opoku-Agyemang
The National Democratic Congres (NDC) must demonstrate that they are persons who have the vision, the tenacity of purpose, and what it takes to run the affairs of the country if they are given the opportunity, a Political scientist at the University of Ghana, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante has said.
This, in his view, should be one of the strategies of the main opposition party ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Also, he said, they should be providing workable solutions to the challenges facing the people.
He says that the party must ensure that its policy proposals resonate with the grassroots because power emanates from the people.
Speaking on the outdooring of the Running mate of the NDC, while speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Wednesday, April 24, he said “The strategy is that you want the women to speak more, you want to let the public engage with the woman, you want the women not to also deviate from the general strategy that you are carrying along and you want to showcase both candidates very well for them to articulate clearly their policies and programmes to go down to the grassroots.
“Remember that power emanates from the grassroots, share in their pain, share in their problem, and be ready to offer solution that is workable, that is easy to understand and that can resonate with the people. Be honest when they have something to talk to you about your past, issue of arrogance must be eschewed from your way of life, you must be forthright with information, and above all, you must be persons who have the vision, the tenacity of purpose and you have what it takes to run the affairs of the country when given the opportunity.”
NDC outdoors Prof. Naana Opoku-Agyemang: Be honest when they talk to you; the issue of arrogance must be eschewed. – Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, Political Scientist#GhanaTonight pic.twitter.com/qNPASV0Sd8
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) April 25, 2024
The NDC oitdoored Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang as the running mate to former President John Dramani Mahama at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) auditorium in Accra on Monday, April 24
In her address, she said among other things that corrupt officials of the Akufo-Addo administration will be held accountable if the National Democratic Congress (NDC) wins this year’s elections.
She said “The condescending sees this as a sign of not having original ideas. The unpretentious see it as a sign of understanding the foundations of democracy, which is consensus building, the clearest signpost to sustainable peace. I see it as a sign of strength, and I feel privileged to work with him.”
She also stated that consensus building should be the fulcrum of any progressive, positive project.
“It has already been demonstrated to us how, without such a foundation, the Ghana Without Aid has turned to Ghana Without Compass.
“The choice is clear; let’s make it on December 7 this year. Corruption is rampant in too many government and non government institutions; sadly, those institutions meant to check on corruption have been significantly weakened. We must strengthen the institutions and we will do just that when the NDC comes to power from January 2025, God willing.
“It is our duty to ensure that our sources of wealth are not given away to obscure entities shrouded in opaque deals. We must not arrive at a destination where our national assets and natural resources are treated by some as if they were assets of their own creation, to be willed forever to relatives and friends.
“We must be passionate about justice, about the protection of our environment, about protecting our differently abled citizens. We must be passionate about institutions that are responsive to our collective needs. We must be passionate about stamping out corruption.
“Let no one tell us otherwise, not even those who have so alienated themselves from reality as to be impervious to the truth—the truth of women delivering on the floor, of children waiting for a benevolent person to advance much-needed vaccines, of young children learning in dangerous circumstances; of teachers threatened and parents intimidated from their core functions of caring for their own children; of those who can no longer afford healthy and once generally affordable meals euphemistically called “face the wall” and ‘kofi broke man’, or of elderly citizens who must picket for their own money. What is that?” She said.
She added “Let no one tell us that the culture of silence has become the norm, let no one tell us that eight persons were shot in cold blood because they had gone to exercise their civic responsibility of voting, and that it was all right for a member of parliament to call them criminals; or that it is okay for SALL to have no representative in parliament for four years under a democracy because someone whimsically decided hours to the elections that they could not vote for a parliamentary candidate. And please don’t tell us that the Bank of Ghana, rather than defending itself from accusations of breach of procedure, can choose to label those who raised the matter publicly as hooligans who should have followed procedure.
“And at the time of accounting to the people, let no one pretend that they have more human rights than those they have consciously disenfranchised and those to whom justice has been shamefully denied.
“When those otherwise loud voices we assumed spoke for the voiceless have gone into self-imposed silence, and deafness and blindness, should we honestly be surprised at the high levels of cynicism if not downright mistrust of leaders? Of our youth in despair?”
