Eight executive members of Tema West CPP resign
Tema, July 12, GNA - Eight executive members of the Tema West Constituency of the Convention People's Party (CPP) have resigned from their various positions with immediate effect.
The officers are Mr Daniel Essel, Chairman; Mr John Haizel Kobbina, First Vice Chairman; Mr Idris Hassan, Second Vice Chairman and Mr J.D.K. Abakah, Secretary.
The rest are J.Y. Mensah, Assistant Secretary; Ms Olivia Hammond, Women's Organiser; Ms Rosaline Efe Dannis, Youth Organiser and Mr Kwasi Gyedu Yeboah, Education Secretary.
In their resignation letter dated July 8, sent to the Regional Chairperson of the Party and copied to the General Secretary, the Tema West Constituency of the party and the media, the officers alleged that their decision was due to the fact that some members within the constituency had formed a club with the blessing of both the Regional Secretariat and the National Headquarters of the party.
They contended that the action of these members would rather divide the ranks of members than foster unity among them, adding; "This has undoubtedly been a set back to the progress of the party.
"We cannot preside over a divided house at this moment of the trials and tribulations of the CPP, but to resign," they declared.
GNA
CPP at 61: Opportunities & Challenges
Saturday June 12, 2010, marked the 61st anniversary of the birth of the Convention People's Party (CPP). It is proper, to salute party comrades who "never say die" but continue in perseverance, the struggle to complete the unfinished agenda of transforming Ghana into a developed country.
The task confronting CPP today is huge but not insurmountable. With the right strategy, attitude, organization comradeship and leadership, political book makers should be revising their estimates on third parties by December 2012.
Opportunities
Opportunities available for CPP to tap for electoral purposes and good governance in Ghana are more than meet the eye.
For instance it remains an incontrovertible fact that since the overthrow of the CPP administration in 1966, no government (not even the 19 years of President Rawlings on one account or the combined 16 years account of Presidents Rawlings and Kufuor) have been able to deliver a fraction of the development that the CPP delivered to the good people of Ghana, between 1957 and 1966.
The (P) NDC and NPP administrations who have governed this country for the past three decades seem to know how to attain power by hook or crook but have woefully failed to deliver on governance and leadership needed to deliver sustainable development to the people.
In our recent democratic dispensation, majority of the people have opted for change at general elections but do not seem to get the real change. By the end of NDC (1) in the year 2000, the NPP then in opposition asked the people of Ghana to feel their pockets and vote accordingly. As majority of the people could not feel anything in their pockets they obliged and voted for change.
In 2008, towards the end of NPP administration; the NDC in opposition said President Kufuor's economic growth figures could not be felt in the pockets of the people.
So once again Ghanaians were called to vote for change because they could not feel the growth indicators in their pockets. The people listened and changed to NDC (2).
Today NDC (2) is in power. They are touting good economic performance as in lowering inflation rates. And yet and again, the people cannot feel it in their pockets. How many more times would Ghanaians allow NDC/NPP to take them for a ride?
The current NDC (2) administration is providing the same justifications the NPP provided for the hardships that continue to confront Ghanaians on daily basis.
The evidence is clear: "NDC/NPP the value is the same" It is a tale of disappointments, unkept promises, unmet expectations, insensitivity, arrogance and mediocrity.
Therein lies the opportunity to bring the real change that would in fact put money in the pockets of the people through industrialization and human resource development with a sense of urgency and determination.
Many Ghanaians still wonder how the CPP failed to win the 2008 general elections when it was obvious during the electioneering campaign that the CPP candidate Dr.
Papa Kwesi Nduom and his running mate Abu Sakara were over and above the other contestants in knowledge of the issues and clarity of how to deliver a transformed Ghana.
Perhaps, recent revelations from within the ruling NDC to the effect that heavy doses of investment capital was required to win the 2008 elections; and how some individuals arranged that kind of cash; which the CPP did not have, explains why the electorate did not go for competence and the real deal.
Never the less, current developments have been eye opening making the opportunities for CPP rare and real.
Challenges:
The greatest challenge for the CPP is that it has been out of government for too long. But with the recent celebrations of Ghana at 50 and Nkrumah at 100, the youth of today can now believe that the Nkrumahism ideology of Self Determination, Social Justice and Pan Africanism, when practicalised again would deliver the change Ghanaians need.
The party's new efforts at engaging the grassroots, has brought the real work to the fore. The party is now focused on the task of reaching out to people through the mass media, house to house, street to street and door to door.
The sense of urgency that characterised the amazing works of the party's founder, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, when it came to building Ghana has caught on with comrades again; a development that would change the fortunes of the party if sustained.
Last, but not least challenge, is uniting all the Nkrumahists parties into one united formidable entity that would deliver the fatal blow to the NDC/NPP have failed to deliver the change Ghana needs.
Recently, the CPP announced a decision to pursue with the greatest sense of urgency a united Nkrumahist front comprising of all Nkrumahist political parties including the People's National Convention, (PNC).
The Central Committee of the CPP has demonstrated its determination to unite the Nkrumahists, parties with the appointment of a seven member subcommittee that has been assigned the responsibility of working with representatives of other Nkrumahist parties, to define a common framework that will guide the discussions, leading up to final decisions for unification at the earliest.
In a recent statement on unity, the CPP declared "its unequivocal support for the pursuit of a united Nkumahist party to pay tribute to Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in this august centenary year of his birth." That indeed is a gift all Nkrumahists can afford to give.
Conclusion
CPP at 61 and in opposition would need to focus and run its own race with the Nkrumahist parties that want to merge. The stage is set, the bell has been tolled.
CPP must focus on the work with happiness. The people of Ghana demand it, Africa expects it and the world wants to be taught it again that the black man is capable of managing his own affairs when given the opportunity.
Who would have believed it ten years ago, that South Africa would be hosting the World Cup in this day? On this anniversary occasion let the visionaries envision again and let the Comrades move towards the new CPP to deliver the transformed Ghana.
May God bless our Homeland Ghana and make our nation Great and Strong!
Author: William Dowokpor/Public Agenda
African leaders must see democracy and good governance as tool for peace
May 24, 2010
Apam (C/R) May 24, GNA — The Chairman of the Gomoa West District Oversight Committee of the African Peer Review Mechanism, (APRM) Dr. Mark Nii Lamptey, has urged African leaders to see democracy and good governance as necessary conditions for peace.
Democracy also ensures security and sustainable political and economic development, he added.
Dr Lamptey said African leaders must also put in more interventions and pragmatic policies to help reduce poverty and improve the living conditions of the people.
He said these in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, at Apam, on Monday, in commemoration of the African Union Day, which falls on Tuesday, May 25.
He called on African leaders to stop the marginalization of the continent in the globalization process and enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy.
Dr Lamptey again called on them to promote accelerated women empowerment and their involvement in decision-making, while more opportunities for the youth should be created.
The Secretary of the Committee, Mr Hayford Edu Quaye, also called on Ghanaians and Africans to understand that they who own the APRM programme and must control its processes.
"Citizens, therefore, must exercise their freedom of peaceful assembly and association and express their views in the local communities.
He said APRM is not limited to only Head of States but for governance in public and private administration, traditional and family issues, as well.
GNA