I did not watch neither did I listen to last night’s NCCE debate. But I am told and I am glad Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo did not partake in such a sham. As a man seeking the mandate of his people, working towards a positive change and looking forward to enforcing the sovereignty of the state as will be entrusted him he must first as a candidate eschew mediocrity and rise above pettiness. He must learn to know his level and the platforms to engage. That is leadership. Great minds they say think alike. Some platforms from afar are merely destructive traps. I am glad he understands the game and the essence of the playing field within the context of real life electoral contests.
Former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan has emphatically pointed, ‘‘regimes have developed a multitude of methods, some more delicate than others, to ensure that level playing fields are limited to sports competitions only.’’ For me I foresaw this debate to be one. When the ground rules are not clear you only exploit incumbency to your advantage and turn state institutions into puppeteers.
The world out there is competitive and there is nothing like playing small. How can a sitting president withdraw from one debate only to jump onto another if not to champion an agenda?
The feedback is even an indication of how it was planned and the diabolism meant to orchestrate. As I hear, one candidate behaved like a rented press and like Hassan Ayariga in 2012. Sometimes I wonder why like Dr. Faust we could trade our soul for power and affluence.
I know many NDC fanatics and I have read many of them making it a big deal and making noise about it particularly on social media. Some even say why debate when you know you have already lost an election. This is very much expecting. After all they only think of partisan politics in their opinion and in their devotion to their party.
The truth is these same people would have downgraded Nana Addo and touted their candidate as the winner and senior communicator should the former had participated. Now that level of cheap discourse has been quashed.
For the record Donald Trump was rated to have lost out on all the presidential debate including his vice in the vice-presidential debate. But now he is the president elect of the United States of America.
Presidential debates are good for its stimulating contributions to electoral discourse but when they come as rented rubber stamps it is better avoided. And that is what Nana Addo did. After all for those of us with eyes and ears we have already seen and heard and are more relaxed enjoying our kalyppo to await December 7th.
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