The 2024 election is over. Victory envelops the NDC. The euphoria is palpable, and rightfully so. Congratulations to the NDC!
While there is cause for prancing, dancing, and celebration, the victory lap must be truncated, and a pregnant pause nursed.
The NDC must read the tea leaves on what this vote clearly means. Expectations are high, trust is tenuous, and the naysayers lick their fingers tips like Balthazar Engonga aroused.
The NDC faces a lot more peril than it cares to admit. A reckless trudge into this lethal political mine field may bring more pain and curses on the NDC than what the Npp is currently and visibly experiencing.
When you look carefully at the numbers and context, this election was a rebuke and repudiation of the Npp. It was more about the arrogance, incompetence, rank thievery, scams, and hardship imposed on Ghanaians than it was a resounding endorsement of the NDC and some of its improperly vetted aspirational promises.
Mahama’s base barely expanded. To the contrary, Npp’s base and sympathizer pool shrunk.
This election was also about the amplification of the fault lines or cracks within the Npp.
One thing is very clear. Ghanaians are very angry at the status quo. Ghanaians, especially the youth, are fed up with the idea that political power has become the shortest highway to underserved riches. In a civil way, this vote is a coup d’tat, without a single shot being fired.
Invariably, this election is also about the spurious idea that governance amounts to merely profiting from reckless borrowing and packaging such borrowing into sweetheart deals for clueless family members, partisan hacks and shameless cronies.
At this very moment, given the tremors and tensions that we experience in Ghana, it is a safe bet to assert that, if Mahama fails to recover the alleged looted resources and prosecute the perpetrators, he will face the wrath of the voters before the next polls.
Nothing short of a full recovery of looted state resources will suffice. A line must and will be drawn in the hot Ghanaian sand.
In going after the alleged con artists and criminals in a sustained way, it is important that the NDC follows the rule of law in a non-partisan manner. This means that Mahama has to adopt an inclusive, transparent, and fair approach.
Steps must be taken to avoid all excesses, vigilantism, and a disregard for fundamental human rights. Being fair should not be the enemy of being firm.
Going after alleged looters remains one of many challenges facing the NDC. Finding the resources to keep the country humming is much more daunting. The IMF, after all, continues to lurk in the background.
While I am in no way dictating what the NDC should do, government-as-usual will be a recipe for failure and unrest. We need fundamental and radical change. We need critical reforms and a severe dent in corruption. We need accountability and responsibility for every act of the incoming NDC government.
A few basics must unfurl if the NDC plans to make the eight.
First and foremost, the size of government must be drastically pruned. I mean way beyond what Mahama proposed during the campaign. The latter has become pertinent because of the financial crunch. And also, in the name of great stewardship.
Secondly, the NDC must use its super majority to pass laws that curb the excesses and workarounds, amplified in the Nana Addo/Bawumia regime. For example, Sole Source contracts ought to be rare and transparent. Acquisition of state property by sitting ministers and top government officials must be absolutely illegal.
Other areas that may be tackled include tax reform, ex-gratia payments, and constitutional reforms.
Furthermore, ending illegal mining and promoting merit based corporate governance must be addressed.
The work ahead is enormous and thankless. A misreading of the current mandate will spell peril for the NDC. The time for serious and focused governance is now. The honeymoon will evaporate much quicker than Mahama could say, John, if this incoming NDC government shows any sings of weakness or propensity to negate on its campaign promises.
President Mahama should thank his stars for this wonderful opportunity to right the mistakes of his previous regime. He must deliver flawlessly or face our wrath. He must show us that he has evolved.
And as Mahama goes, so will the NDC. As is self-evident in the current election, the NDC, failing Ghanaians, will and must be punished, whether Mahama is serving his last term or not.
Let me end by issuing a caution to the enablers. When I say enablers, I mean the followers. Be the guardrail that Mahama needs to get the job done. Don’t watch on as the mistakes compound and arrogance seep in. You do your party a huge disservice by promoting herd mentality and obsequiousness. The best and most impactful criticism comes from within.
Challenge authority at all times. Build a culture of psychological safety within the NDC.
Finally, the NDC must take a fat cue from Nana Addo/Npp’s fate. Given NDC’s current lofty perch, a precipitous fall could be catastrophic for the party. The higher you remain, the harder the fall.
(By Nii Lantey Okunka Bannerman)
