The Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin brand in the race for the 2020 Flagbearership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has received a big push as a group of musicians launch campaign songs for him over the weekend.
The launch which took place at Keta in the Volta region, saw the band which already has massive hits on radio, performing the two songs that they have, out of their own volition, recorded for Hon. Bagbin.
The musicians unwrapped the campaign gift at a press conference in Keta on Sunday.
“Our motivation is simple, it is important that we celebrate our heroes while they are still alive, rather than wait for them to die before we spend huge sums of money to eulogize them,” Igwe Gramah, lead singer of the group said at the press conference.
Hon. Bagbin has served the nation very well in various capacities and we as musicians have come together to celebrate him and also urge him to save Ghana. After our news conference in Keta,we have been to several communities in the Volta region including some communities in the Greater Accra region to create awareness of the music,” Igwe Gramah, who was flanked by colleague musicians including a Tema based rapper called Rap key said.
According to him, Hon. Alban Bagbin is one of many living legends in the country who have not received proper acknowledgment due them. “His decision to run for the flagbearership of the NDC is therefore a very good opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate him for all the legendary things he stands for,” Igwe Gramah added.
Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, is Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament and the Member of Parliament for Nadowli Kaleo. He is the longest serving Legislator in the 4th Republic and the only surviving pioneer MP who first came to Parliament in 1993.
As a Lawyer and governance expert, he is respected for his fierce anti-corruption stance. According to the group, he is an unsung hero of the 4th Republic who is in the same class with other unsung heroes such as former President Rawlings, and former Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Doe Adjaho.
At the press conference, they expressed regret that other heroes like late President Mills, Late Vice President Amissah-Arthur, the late Mr. P.V. Obeng were never celebrated until their demise saying it is time this changes.
The songs for Hon. Bagbin by the musicians are two. The press conference in Keta which had preceded by the launch had been thronged by heavy crowd mostly made up of NDC supporters, fellow musicians and Disc Jokeys (DJ’s).
The crowd had heartily danced to the two tunes which are in the ‘dzamah’s and Hip Hop flavor. Black eagle, a popular reggae dance hall musician in Anloga said “ Bagbin is a great man and I am very happy that his celebration was successful”. A rap artist from the Central Region by the stage name ‘TICOS’ said “Hon Bagbin is not corrupt and has the country at heart, he has helped many people in diverse ways and he is the best to rule and develop Ghana”.
The first song, a ‘dzamah’ titled; “Vote for Bagbin,” the group advises the NDC to elect the longstanding Nadowli Kaleo MP as he is the only man among all contenders, who not only have what it takes to win the NDC back into power, but also has what it takes to salvage the country from a path of ruin that it currently finds itself.
“When a dog is in the house, you don’t ask a sheep to lead you into battle,” one of the lines in the song, which is mainly in Ewe, went. The song went on to reference the fact that many important personalities in society, including the late President Mills, Dr. Kwabena Dufuor, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, Torgbe Afede ll and Dr. Emmanuel Akwetey of IDEG have all paid homage to the exceptionality of Hon. Alban Bagbin.
It named other noteworthy personalities, such as Hon. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo and Yaw Boateng Gyan of the NDC as people who bear testimony to Hon. Bagbin’s exceptionality.
In the second song entitled, “Come and Save Ghana” the Group makes a clarion call on NDC gurus such as former President Rawlings, Dr. Obed Asamoah, NDC General Secretary, Asiedu Nketia and staunch Bagbin crusader, Stephen Ashitey Adjei, alias Moshake, to work together to make Bagbin the leader of the NDC for 2020.
The group said Bagbin, with his background as a Lawyer and Farmer, who is also a governance expert and the longest serving MP in the 4th Republic has helped many people in diverse ways, and has received many local and international awards. One of the lines of the song in Twi reads “Nobody can develop Ghana apart from Bagbin,we have heard that Hon. Bagbin will soon visit the Volta regionandwe would try and get him a copy of the music.
