Find other ways to dim shine of Mahama; politics of labelled chairs won’t work – Stan Dogbe

Former Presidential staffer Stan Dogbe has lashed out at some members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) for demonstrating “political childishness” by seeking to suggest that former President John Mahama deliberately refused to attend a ceremony put together by the Jubilee for political parties as part of steps to battle the novel coronavirus.

Some NPP members have been enthusiastically sharing pictures
of a labelled chair that was meant for the former President to sit on at the meeting
of political parties at the Jubilee House as proof that he intentionally
refused to honour the invitation after accepting to attend

But Mr Dogbe has described the development as
“political childishness” and a quest to score political points by the
governing party.

“The display of political childishness by the Jubilee
House and the quest to always look at scoring political points instead of a
focus on proper governance will obviously not end soon.

As is predictable of the conduct of the President and his
officials, I have noted, like many others have, a photograph of a labeled chair
taken in the Jubilee House Banquet Hall, and which has been handed down to some
internet junkies to spread around, suggesting that former President John
Dramani Mahama refused to attend a meeting of political party heads this
afternoon,” a post on Facebook reads in part.

Mr Dogbe stressed that the politics of using empty labelled
chairs to seek to court disaffection for the former President will not wash,
wondering how a chair could be labelled for a participant who had indicated
that he was not going to be present.

“If it wasn’t for cheap politicking and the lies that
our Seat of Government is now associated with, why will they label a chair for
a supposed participant, who was not going to be at the meeting anyway?

In any case, the Jubilee House invitation was directed to
the General Secretary of the NDC and not to the Former President.

So, I am inclined to ask what plans did the president have,
which occasioned the desperate attempts by agents of the President to reach out
to officials of the NDC, to come along with the former President to the said
meeting at all cost?” He wondered.

Mr Dogbe explained that the letter indicating that the
flagbearer and leader of the NDC, John Mahama, was not going to be present at
the meeting was delivered to the Secretary to the President, insisting that
attempts to dim the shine of Mr Mahama will amount to nothing.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Party’s letter was
delivered to the Secretary to the President, Nana Asante Bediatuo, who signed
the invitation letter, which was addressed to our Party General Secretary and
not to the Former President.

As was indicated in the NDC letter, because the issues
surrounding the COVID-19 were more technical than political, two members of the
NDC COVID-19 Technical Team (Messrs Prosper Bani and Dr. Kow Jehu-Appiah), will
accompany the National Chairman of the NDC, Hon. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo to the
meeting.

These three senior officials of the NDC were present and did
contribute elaborately and practically to the issues up for discussion.

Why would a whole presidency reduce what was supposed to be
an important national conversation on a matter that we all, as a people, are
troubled about, to a politics of chairs?

As I said some time ago, find other means to dim the shine
of John Mahama, but definitely not through such infantile political
games,” he added on social media.

The meeting of the political parties discussed how they
could together fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Source:MyNewsGh.com/Stephen Zoure/2020