When Ghana’s former national soccer team coach and celebrated coach of the Sudanese national team, the legendary Kwesi Appiah decided to write a memoir he settled on a very poignant title “Leaders Don’t Have to Yell”. When one of America’s greatest presidents ever, John Fritzgerald Kennedy wrote a book, he called it “Profiles in Courage”, dedicated to men who exhibited a special kind of courage not necessarily physical, but what is popularly referred to as “Grace under pressure”.
There have been conversations in recent times about presidential character in the run up to the NPP primaries with concerns raised about temperament, who will be a fighter and the value of courage. Courage doesn’t always manifest in being loud, temperamental or given to outbursts. Courage can manifest in several ways including the ability to remain calm under pressure/provocation, persevere against all odds, standing up to be counted when it matters and trustworthiness.
Dr Bawumia’s record within the NPP has been one of such courage. Not loud, not boastful, not condescending but that quiet, self-assured and indomitable courage that has seen him take the fight to competitors, advocating unabashedly, contributing enormously to winning power and being an offensive, defensive and utility player for the party and nation. He is a warrior not given to erratic outbursts but rather channeling his energy towards fighting and advocating for causes and policies that will improve the life of citizens.
He fought for the party in opposition, he fought for the party in the docket, he fought for the party in government. He has fought unrepentantly for digital innovation, jobs and national transformation. He has fought unreservedly for the poor.
Some fighters are imbued with inner steel and fortitude that is channeled in the right ways to achieve positive results. When the NPP had its back against the wall during the 2012 election petition; when the party needed one man to stand up for them; when the party needed one with the courage to stand in that dock at such an intractable moment in the national history, Dr Bawumia rose out of the ashes to meet the moment. With the gift of the garb, courage of a leader, wisdom of a strategist, he became the number one defender of his party when they needed it most. That’s a true fighter.
It is no secret that part of the reason Dr Bawumia has become a subject of attack in the opposing political space has been because of the dogged fight he mounted against opponents.
Reverend Eastwood Anaba said something recently that resonates. He said “truly, the one who is truly powerful in this world is the one who walks in humility”. In another recent sermon, globally recognized televangelist Joel Osteen reminded us of the fabled quote “still waters run deep”.
Some of the greatest presidents such as Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt understood this basic truth. It takes a lot more courage to remain measured. One of the most popular definitions of courage is attributed to Ernest Hemingway who once said, “courage is grace under pressure”. Stuart Eizenstat writing on “The State of the Modern Presidency” couldn’t have put it better when he said, “The President has come to be the embodiment of the nation, his mood the nation’s. The President must lead or no one can. Only he can set a national agenda and a course for the country.” There can be little doubt that the occupant of the presidency must be a person of steady mind and bold resolve to undertake lasting change.
At the start of his digitization crusade, Dr Bawumia was the object of derision but today he has become the subject of vindication. John Baldoni has defined a courageous person as one with the “willingness to stand defiantly in service of a greater good over venality and mendacity”. Throughout his career, Dr Bawumia has not wavered in advocating for the greater good; policies he believes will transform, industrialize and upgrade the nation. It is in this sense that writers like Caroline Reichard invite us to redefine courage away from the ancient and traditional notion of machismo.
From a very practical and modern perspective therefore, Reichard states that the kind of courage we need is “prudence, ability to be deliberate, the understanding of how and when to compromise, rather than pugnaciousness and eagerness to fight”.
And that is why Dr Bawumia’s concession after the 2024 election defeat, roundly commended by bodies such as the United Nations, will continue to be viewed as one of the greatest acts of political courage in African democracy. Mary Anne Radmacher puts it even better “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.”
The NPP has an arduous task ahead. It must have the boldness to rethink, redefine and reimagine courage in a modern manner. In the words of the great thinker C. W. Reichard, “the deliberate life” not the belligerent; not the tempestuous and not the inflammatory life has proven to be the “heroic life”.
By Professor Etse Sikanku
The writer is an Associate Professor of Political Communication and Media Studies at the University of Media, Arts and Communication.