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He escaped from his mother’s womb at the latter part of 1970’s, that can be said to be far from long ago. Many had happened in our political space before he was born and a lot was happening when he was born, throughout those times that he was insensitive to the major events happening around him.
His age struggled with maturity until the year 1996 when the 1992 constitution of the republic of Ghana recognized and included him amongst those wise people who could make decisions in the country with their thumbs. With such opportunity, he became glad enough to participate in decision making in the 1996 general elections held in Ghana. He got himself a voter’s identification card during the Registration by the Electoral commission.
Prior to the elections, political activities and campaigns occupied all the media houses in the country and the only political parties he could hear were the ruling party and one other vibrant party in opposition, the rest sounded to him like *political funerals* not political parties, because lose is what he believed lied ahead of them irrespective of their potency.
As at then, his mind was as light as a plucked leave from a tree which dances in the direction of any and every blowing wind and which does not care about where it lands: whether the place is safer or not. What he heard from the few educated people he knew was that you do not have to join a party, however just vote and vote for a party with good policies. He was so politically naive that he could not differentiate between politics and politricks. However, their statement echoed through his ears to settle at the core of his heart and occupied the colors and powers of his tongue after his mind had also agreed. For these reasons above, he casted his vote haphazardly in the year 1996 and partly his lotto clocked and partly did not.
After voting in 1996, reality exposed the intensity of his ignorance as his expectations began to conflict with reality. He was left with no option than to poke his nose into the concept of politics and to escape from the cave of ignorance. Upon his theoretical investigations into partisan politics and few background checks on the political parties in the country, evidences from his community, constituency and the country Ghana at large abounded him to tie his political garments to one of these two vibrant political parties.
He was received by the members with warmth heart and joyful faces. He did not hesitate for time to fly him to any partisan position before he started converging his capabilities and actions towards the ultimate goal of his party. When communication mounted pressure on him to speak for the party,he did, where debate forced him to defend or convince, he did and where motivation was necessary he did with his intelligence and strength.
At some points in time, his mind became fed up with the mouth since it could reach few Ghanaians and it necessitated the need for his ideas and thoughts to be reduced into writings. Upon all the toils, the party lost the presidential seat and parliamentary seat as well, in his second time of experiencing voting.
He dwelt with the party in opposition and waited for a favor that would befall on his party to get into government.
He helped to reform the party at his branch and the constituency even though he possessed no material position in the party. In fact, space and time will not permit me to spew all his relentless effort within the period the party found its body in opposition.
As time moved in the pace of tortoise through seconds to the height of producing years, the term of office was exhausted by the ruling party as quick as the flash of a lightening. New election was around the corner. Party officials from his constituency and even regional level recognized his efforts and approached him to expand the scope of his efforts into other constituencies to help increase the turn out in favor of their party.
These words of assistance were accompanied by sugarcoated promises that, should the party secure win, the whole earth space would not be enough to contain his reward. These promises ranged from money through cars to the ends of job appointments his degree certificate was light enough to even apply. Indeed, chairman worked from mounting political stages to organizing to researching. At the end of the day, success knock at the door of their party and the sweetness of political power had eternalized their limited toils. The party got the chance to ascend the highest throne of the land. His party came into office at both Constituency and national level. Before the party’s win, politics and sometimes its dirty color had pushed the man to have a negative encounter with people. The love for the party had forced him to defend truths that lacks credibility and that on any good day, this young would not naturally defended. He had wasted time, his own money and other resources for the sake of win for his party.
Disappointment came!!!The most disappointed era in his life!!!. It appeared to him like a rainbow. Those people who United to win for the party had punctuated themselves into beneficiaries and “bene-fools” as he would described it. He sailed from party offices to districts, municipal and metropolitan assemblies but nobody acted like he knew him. He called the top members he had had encounter with, but nobody ever picked his call. He begged for even the least job in government that his certificate could afford but he was never given. He saw those sitting over salts pushing their relatives into jobs. He saw people who never fought for the party taking contracts and milking the state coffers with the born to job ones.
Less I forget, in those times he was working for the success of the party when in opposition, he also saw and experienced one evil thing in his party. When he joined, impact raised its beautiful head in their branch and other areas when his efforts succeed in bringing other young, vibrant and respected youth on board to feed the area and its surrounding with good and better leaders in the future. His efforts continued until some Saints in the party started mocking his efforts whiles others started clapping for him at the wrong side of their palms. It all came into play when advise in the spirit of warning rained from heavens of the good hearted persons within the branch and also from the Constituency level. His efforts was geared towards winning but some branch and Constituency executives saw his efforts as threat, but as to whether the said threat was to the personal benefits or to the collective benefits, only those hypocrite hearts could explain.
In the end he was not paid. He became heart broken. His mind became polarized and felt he needed to quit politics. He felt he should leave the party and join the other party. He felt he did not belong to them and they needed him not. Internally, he wondered why a party that could campaign and beg people for votes and could plead people to join would have executives who hated his own efforts in raising the standard of their party. He felt realized his efforts to help strengthen the hegemony of the party invited enemies in the same party. He saw members from down to top sabotaging his success and painting him black to fellow comrades. He saw people who raised him trying to pull him back again and amputating his game here and there.
*HE DECIDED TO QUIT* but there is this wise one called KAY, who healed all the grievances he had cultivate from this political experience. The words of KAY knocked at his confused psyche and neutralized all his anger and hatred, as KAY systematically created meaning out of what He thought it was meaningless: that those experiences are everywhere and party of human beings and humanly created institutions and organizations like political parties. KAY further explained that wherever there are human beings dealings the following elements exists: love, hatred, like, dislike, hypocrisy, praise, rise, fall, sabotaging etc. Expect and never be too worried because they are part of our nature.
However, KAY advised him to keep following:
(1) _Treat the political party like a organization or club I have joined. Respect everything including the rules and members and above all help fight its overriding objective at the end of the day._
__(2) _Sometimes help the party out of goodwill like the way we help our churches, to achieve its objective and not on conditions like getting money or job in the short run. Otherwise you can disappointed at the end of the day. If opportunity comes and you like, take it and vice versa._
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_(3) Build your own life and business or education. Have your other plans and targets in life, independent of the politics and view the political party as a club or church you have join, whether they win or not, your life goes on._
( _4) Complain less and act more_ .
_(5) You do not only need position to become a leader: leadership only requires ability to influence._
KWEKU MENSAH AMPONSAH is my name, I hope this creation finds you. I’m sure, if not all, some will reflects on your personal experiences in politics and I believe it will go along way to shape and strengthen you.
Thank you
|KWEKU MENSAH AMPONSAH|
(0504965462)
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