Too much of good thing can be bad; We must legislate as clearly as possible
We must legislate as clearly as possible, but when vagueness remains, let’s try to make sense of the vagueness.
Moving forward, we have significant challenges. We need an effective, simple storyline about what NPP is and what the 2024 contest is about. We ought not to muddle too many things in our messages for the masses. The NPP was elected for the 2nd term in 2020 as a transformative administration, a defender of democracy, etc. That may not be helpful to our re-election bid for a 3rd term. Every polling station has to put its shoulder to the wheel so we can push along.
They have their own constitutional job to make sure elections held are credible, completely free, and fair. NPP must gravitate in the right direction for us to win the 2024 elections. Recalibration to give more clarity to our message and campaign will be very critical for our success.
What will impress our base to show up to vote in the general elections when they now know that delegates vote based solely on the highest bidder, regardless of knowledge and skills acquired since parliamentary work started? How do we energize our base in Anyaa Sowutuom?
We are grappled with one of the most unsettling qualities of modern government: sweeping policy changes from one administration to the next, which create immense uncertainty when one leader from within the same party is changed. We hope that a new person will not work to undo the work of the prior one which will be ruinous instability. This is a novel problem of modern politics.
Energetic leaders aren’t inherently good, but rather leadership with new energy is good for a few important things – the steady administration of the laws that are known to us all. We hope for few disruptions from one administration to the next. Of course, leadership would change hands, and of course, policies would change from one leader to the next; that is the point of elections. An abrupt change from one to the next can be disgraceful and destabilize the administration of the government. We now are in a post-covid time. Elections aren’t everything; more careful decisions are needed moving forward to secure a good win for the party and the constituency.
Let’s never undermine the previous steady administration and their policymaking discretion. Most decisions are supposed to be fair, well-intentioned, and with broad consultation.
If things do not work out very well, we cannot simply blame the party or ignore the entire system. People know the President has neglected to reshuffle for three years. No finger-pointing will erase the disadvantage of not reshuffling for a long time. Some ministers have not brought on new and refreshing ideas after serving for a long period in the same ministry. Grassroots diminished enthusiasm as a result of the non-reshuffle may create a risk of alienating our voters’ needs.
We have work to do to bring back the ability to rally support from opinion leaders and other influential personalities. Ghanaians must rally behind the scenes. We should at no point look freckled and weak. NPP has achieved many milestones within the past 7 years, and we have a lot to show for it.
While many people’s confidence is rising, we need an economic message that clicks with voters. We have a thriving economy, even though it was very rough last year. Now, although inflation is receding and growth is good, most voters are still adjusting to three years of price inflation and wages that did not keep up. We will continue to hope for the best. These are just a few thoughts for your consideration.