Politics is show business for ugly people and Hon Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin is a fine brain; this is why he is not yet the President of the land, senior journalist, Kwame Mensah Afrifa, has observed.
On the sidelines of an interview that Hon. Bagbin granted journalists in Accra yesterday, Mr. Afrifa, a respected voice on radio, gave voice to the popular Ghanaian thought that the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament is too rich in knowledge to serve below the presidency.
However, because there is no truth in politics, the journalist said, Hon Bagbin who has contributed more than anyone else to Ghana’s 4th republican Legislature is not yet President of the country.
“Hon. Bagbin is so deep and so intelligent… a man who has contributed so much to this country. And yet he has not yet been given the opportunity to lead this country because in Politics there is no truth!” Kwame Mensah Afria said.
The respected broadcaster made the observation on the sidelines of an interview that Hon. Alban Bagbin had had with journalists at Roman Ridge, in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency of the Greater Accra region.
Journalists had gathered around Power House, apparently, upon hearing Hon. Bagbin’s interview on Accra based Accra FM, which is also in that area. The same radio interview had also attracted a throng of NDC party faithful in the constituency to the area.
Amidst mobbing and the chanting of victory songs, the Nadowli Kaleo MP managed to field questions from the journalists. Hon. Bagbin, reiterated that the decision of he and the five other aspirants for the 2020 flagbearership of the NDC to petition the National Executive to ensure that all proper processes are followed in the conduct of the upcoming Presidential primary is aimed at ensuring that the party does not set a bad precedent for itself.
“We are a very democratic tradition and we believe that it is imperative that the right thing is done so that at the end of the day, Ghanaians will not have cause to doubt the outcome of the election,” Hon. Bagbin said.
He pointed out the NDC’s protest of dodgy developments in the upcoming Parliamentary by-election in Ayawaso West Wuogon is in keeping with the party’s principled position on fairness and transparency.
Hon. Bagbin pointed out that he was a leading face in the NDC and, “would never do anything to bring the NDC’s reputation into muddy waters.” He pointed out that the party is a heritage that he has helped cultivate and served for over two decades, reminding that when the NDC first went into opposition in 2001, he was one of the few people who had stood up to champion the cause of the party.
As the then Minority Leader in Parliament, he had teamed up with party Founder, Jerry Rawlings and the Minority in Parliament to hold the party together at a time that some NDC leaders were cowering in fear from the vindictiveness of the Kufuor regime.
He said questions as to why the six other aspirants of the party could not come together and support the bid of former President John Mahama to lead the party again in 2020 or present a united front against him are out of place because to do such a thing would defeat the democratic competition that is central to the NDC.
Earlier, the Nadowli Kaleo MP had said on Accra FM that if he is voted Flagbearer and he succeeds in leading the NDC to victory in 2020, he will strengthen the legal regime of Ghana to ensure that more teeth are given to Ghana’s laws.
He had also observed that, the current situation in which only senior rank soldiers retire on their salaries is not right and that by the sacrificial nature of the work of soldiers, every soldier deserves to retire on his or her salary. Consequently, he will extend salaried retirement to all the military ranks of the country if he becomes President.
