WHEN PARTY BLESSINGS BECOME WEAPONS
“Onyemi gbonyo, ehi fe otsebi kpakpa” literally means “Your mother’s child is better than your father’s child.” This Ga expression carries a powerful message about political gratitude, loyalty, and the consequences of forgetting those who helped you. Twi: Wo maame ba yɛ sen wo papa ba. Ewe: Viɔ nɔvi nyo wu tɔ nɔvi.
When did the blessing the NPP gave you become a weapon you now use against the same party? You had nothing when you joined. Were it not for business contracts, the NPP, and positions offered by the NPP government, you would not be out there today sponsoring NDC politicians under the guise of being “friends in politics,” when in reality they are friends of benefit, a favor-for-favor arrangement. “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” political syndrome, meaning if you help me, I’ll help you..
When the NPP was in power, it gave more opportunities to NDC members in positions while NPP members were looked down upon. There was support from Gabby Otchere-Darko for Raymond Archer and from Alan Kyerematen for Ibrahim Mahama; and there were numerous NDC members, such as Millicent Amankwah Yeboah, wife of Mahama Agariga, whom Irene Naa Torshie sponsored, and those NDC figures she funded are far more numerous. What about President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s support for Freddie Blay, Alban Bagbin, E. T. Mensah, Cletus Avoka, and Martin Amidu, while Lawyer Philip Anderson, Lawyer Adu Mantey, Lawyer Nkrabea Effah-Dateh, Hon. Adai Nimo, Reginald Niibi Ayibonte, Hon. David Quaye Annan, Kwabena Adjei Agyepong, Nene Atiapa, Boakye Agyarko, and Sammy Crabb were all left to wither? Meanwhile, these parasitic NDC politicians were supporting and strengthening their bases through NPP empowerment and through hard hitting NPP government policies and presidential initiatives such as the building of the Cathedral.
Political parties are built on loyalty, sacrifice, shared ambitions, and collective struggle. Their survival depends not merely on the commitment of ordinary members but also on the conduct of individuals who benefit from the opportunities created through the party’s political fortunes.
The question is not whether individuals benefited from the NPP. The more important question is whether their conduct after benefiting has strengthened or weakened the organisation.
In Ghanaian politics, however, an uncomfortable question continues to deserve attention: What happens when individuals who benefit from a political party’s victories, appointments, contracts, influence, and networks eventually become instruments of criticism, hostility, or political destabilisation against the very party that helped create those opportunities?
This is a particularly important question for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), a political organisation whose electoral successes have depended on years of sacrifice by grassroots activists, polling station executives, constituency officers, regional organisers, communicators, financiers, and countless supporters.
The party’s victories have never been the achievement of a few privileged individuals. They are the product of collective political labour.
Yet, when political power produces opportunities, a troubling culture sometimes emerges in which personal advancement becomes more important than collective responsibility. The Akan will say, “A dead relative is better than a good stranger,” Twi: Ɔyɔnko funu yɛ sen ɔhɔho pa; Ewe: Ʋtsɔe ƒe ame kuku nyo wu amedzro nyui. This proverb emphasises the importance of kinship and family ties. It suggests that even a deceased family member is considered more valuable than a kind hearted outsider, highlighting the deep cultural value placed on lineage and blood relations over foreign connections.
Venerable Dr Nathaniel Nii Naate Atswele Agbo Nartey
