A call on CPP to be a potential force in 2024 general election
A sister of mine, name withheld, told me that she recently dreamt about the party that would form the next government and take over the mantle of leadership of our dear country, Ghana, after the tenure of office of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2024. In that dream, she was directed by the Almighty God to try and get in touch with Comrade Kwesi Pratt, a leading member of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and Managing Editor of Insight Newspaper, to deliver a special message to him concerning the re-organisation of the party to take over the leadership of this country in 2024. She asked me to assist her to get the contact line of Mr. Pratt so that she could deliver the message to him personally. I did according to her wish and I am very sure that by now, she has been able to get in touch with Mr. Pratt to deliver her message.
MESSAGE TO COMRADE KWESI PRATT
Being so inquisitive, I impressed on her to interpret that dream to me in a more cohesive manner and to my astonishment, she told me that the good Lord had revealed to her that come 2014, the leadership of this country would be transferred to the CPP because Ghanaians were, indeed, tired and fed up with the current government and that of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and would like to try a third force which is the CPP.
I cannot agree more with my sister about her dream and vision, however, I strongly believe that for that prediction to materialise, much will depend on all the splinter groups of the Nkrumahist tradition to bury their entrenched positions and differences and rally their strength behind the CPP, the party formed by Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory and first President of Ghana to regain their fortunes and claim leadership of this country. That can be possible and there is no ambiguity about that vision. It is a fact that those who have been monitoring and following Kwesi Pratt critically about his comments and support for the CPP, believe that he has what it takes to help bring together well-meaning and genuine Nkrumahists who believe in the ideals and tradition of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to build a formidable CPP to capture power, come 2024.
CPP AS AN ALTERNATIVE PARTY IN GOVERNMENT
It is a fact that Ghanaians who have tried and tested both the administrations of the NPP, which is still in power, and that of the NDC, which handed power in 2016, are not seeing any improvement in their living conditions. Rather, what they are witnessing currently is economic stagnation, hence the deterioration in their living conditions. There have been no proactive measures to arrest the declining state of the economy and the sufferings among the people are, indeed, unbearable. Therefore, the only option and alternative left for Ghanaians is to try the CPP and see what they can also offer this nation. But in doing so, that entrenched positions by the so-called splinter groups which claim their roots from the Nkrumahist tradition must be dismantled to rope in true and genuine CPP members and supporters who because of the unstable nature of the party, have defected to other parties including the NPP and the NDC. It is important and significant for the dormant CPP to regain its original posture and to rub shoulders with the two main political parties in our dear country, Ghana.
This article will not be complete, effective and interesting if it fails to trace and sumarise the historical background of the emergence of the CPP from the Nkrumahist era up the present state where things seem not to be going well with the party because of apathy, individual differences and leadership crisis. It is also a fact that there are quite a number of Ghanaians who are not familiar with the CPP, therefore, they will need some bit of enlightenment about the party and what it stood for in the past.
SHORT HISTORY ABOUT THE CPP
This writer was not born when the CPP was formed but history has revealed that it was a socialist party based on ideas of former president Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory. It was formed on June 12, 1949, by Nkrumah to campaign for independence of the Gold Coast. It was a governing party under Kwame Nkrumah of the autonomous British Colony of the Gold Coast from 1951 to 1957, and independent Ghana from 1957 to 1966. In 1964, the Constitution was changed to make the CPP the only legal party in Ghana, thus making the nation a one-party state. The party was banned after the 24th February 1966 coup d’etat by the National Liberation Council (NLC). It will interest readers to know that parties that followed the CPP tradition used various names to prosecute their own agenda. It was the first party to rule Ghana after the attainment of independence in 1957.
The CPP started as a vehicle of emancipation of the nation and whole of Africa, and was a party that embraced farmers, fishermen, the rural folks, the rich and the poor alike. In the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections, the party won one parliamentary seat, the Jomoro Constituency with the daughter of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Madam Samia Nkrumah as the member of parliament. The then presidential candidate Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, performed below expectation, managing to get 1,4 per cent of the total valid votes cast. The presidential candidate in the 2012 election was Dr. Michael Abu Sakara Foster with Mr. Ivor Greenstreet being the presidential candidate for the party in the 2020 election.
SHAMEFUL SPECTACLE WITHIN THE CPP
It is a shame that the CPP which used to be a party with a larger following is now wandering in the wilderness due to protracted differences, bickering and a host of other problems basically on matters of leadership of the party. The party has men and women of integrity to manage its affairs but the lack of coordination and unity seem to be tearing the party apart. Was it not a shame that the CPP has no representation in parliament ever since Samia Nkrumah’s mandate expired in 2016?
The turn of events in this country in which the cost of living has become unbearable for the average Ghanaians, demands that the CPP must get its act together, bring all those who professed in the ideals and vision of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah together and launch a positive campaign to win the needed support for the party come 2024 general election. Now is the time for the founding members of the party, some of whom are still alive to call a spade a spade and see how best they can unite the party under one umbrella which is the CPP to make a positive impact on the country’s democratic process. Ghanaians are yearning for a third force to save them from the harrowing experiences they are currently going through.
This country is not the preserve of any group or political party to govern, it belongs to each and every Ghanaian and Ghanaians deserve every right to choose the party of their choice to run the affairs of the nation. That is why a clarion call is being made to the CPP to organise itself well to battle for the leadership and show what the party can also offer to salvage the country from the downward trend.
To borrow from the lyrics of the greatest and popular Jamaican reggae and soul musician, Jimmy Cliff, “There is suffering in the land” and Ghanaians will need selfless, dedicated and visionary leaders to lift them out of their sorrowful state as well as the current economic hardship they find themselves in.
Ghanaians have tried and tested the two major political parties-NPP, NDC- and things, especially issues regarding the economy are not working in their favour, therefore, the only alternative left for them is to look elsewhere for their salvation. The CPP can be a potential force if it can unite and re-organise itself before the 2024 general election.
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By Charles Neequaye
