Prof. Ransford Gyampo
The quest for continuous relevance in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is the reason Prof. Ransford Gyampo, former political science lecturer, has offered a so-called antidote, clothed ‘Strategic Communications for Countering Propaganda’ to save the listing ruling party.
Unfortunately however, when things get this bad for a ruling party which wrestled power through subterfuge and outright lies, such unwanted outcome is inevitable regardless of so-called strategies.
As now a full-fledged NDC card-bearing member, having graduated from a ‘neutral’ to this notch, we do not doubt his appreciation of the realities of the failings of the ruling political grouping he belongs.
Unfortunately, under the circumstances no amount of the strategies he has propounded can save the NDC from the looming devastation in terms of people losing faith in them.
It is the realisation of the hopeless situation the party finds itself which has prompted Prof. Gyampo’s useless and unproductive intervention. At best it can make him relevant in the scheme of things in the NDC, not so the growing public disenchantment with the party.
Bad governance will not respond to a propaganda treatment which he is proposing. The people will want to witness the fulfilment of manifesto promises and not manipulation of facts to serve their purpose.
Prof. Gyampo should rather advise his hirer, the President, on the dangers of scuttling free speech and the arbitrary arrest of persons deemed not to be in the books of the government after speaking out.
The country is in a socio-economic turmoil and no amount of propaganda can reverse how the people are feeling and what they really think about the government.
As a political scientist, let Prof. Gyampo appreciate the importance of offering genuine advice to the President and avoid boot-licking. Failure to listen to him by the President should inform an appropriate line of action such as walking out of the assignment bestowed upon him and publicising the action he has taken.
It is instructive that Prof. Gyampo has appreciated how effective the communications of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is having on the NDC, hence the so-called Gyampo strategies to save the NDC.
When the NDC was in opposition, the party was on overdrive hurling countless lies against the ruling NPP.
The opposition NPP is today on the other side of the aisle and in a better position to point out instances of bad governance associated with the NDC.
A so-called Rapid Response Team to set the records straight cannot reverse the reality of bad governance and the scams associated with phantom policies such as the 24-Hour Economy. How can such a team defend a policy which has metamorphosed from a formula 1:3:3 employment game-changer to market construction across the country? Such an intervention cannot hold water and clearly seen as a hoax by most Ghanaians.
Setting the Record Straight is not a novelty having been operationalised earlier under a previous NDC regime. It did not work then and would not do so even now.
Prof. Gyampo should be querying his newfound party indoors and not through this flimsy media eye-service.
Whatever happened to his fight against galamsey?
What has informed his recalibrated stance on free speech?
