CPP Patriots response to Nduom

The Patriots of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) wish to react to the story in the Independent newspaper of 2 March 2007, which was reproduced on several radio stations and Ghana Web, in which, among other things, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, CPP member of Parliament and Minister for Public Sector Reform in the NPP government, was said to have described the Patriots as a bunch of “intolerant politicians.” In a subsequent interview with Radio Gold, Dr. Nduom repeated his accusation and specifically accused the Patriots of not working to bring the PNC and GCPP back into the CPP.

It is obvious that Dr. Nduom is completely misinformed about the CPP Patriots. We hope this response would address this lack of information on his part.

We are a group of ordinary Ghanaians who are disillusioned with the current state of affairs in the country and the seeming lack of credible alternatives to the two main political parties, the NPP and the NDC. Our work, therefore, embodies the following:

A. WORK TOWARDS A UNITED GHANA

We feel that the sense of nationhood that the CPP fostered at independence is being threatened by a growing sense of deprivation and alienation which has forced many Ghanaians to turn increasingly to narrow ethnic agendas at the expense of the national interest. We need to reverse this trend by providing a level social and economic playing field for all Ghanaians, removing regional and social inequities, and creating a just and equitable society for all.

B. ‘GHANA BEFORE SELF’

We place the interests of the nation above ours, political and otherwise. Patriotism is our watchword, hence the name Patriots.

C. SENSE OF COMMUNITY

We believe Ghana requires a resurgence of a strong sense of community that is sensitive to the plight of the vulnerable and the poor. We preach self-reliance and voluntarism as a tool for community/national development and the consolidation of our independence and self confidence.

D. ‘GHANA DESERVES BETTER’

We are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in Ghana and the sense of hopelessness that exists as a result. We believe that with good leadership and good policies, we are capable of doing better. Ghanaians deserve better.

E. WE ARE NKRUMAISTS

We believe in the ideals of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, that is, nationhood, social justice, and Pan-Africanism. We believe that this is the only way to develop Ghana and Africa.

F. THE CPP IS OUR PARTY

The members of the Patriots are all card-bearing members of the CPP. We believe that the CPP is the only party that is capable of uniting our country again and finishing the unfinished business that was violently terminated in 1966.

For the past two years the CPP Patriots have undertaken the collective task of helping to rebuild the party through a dual process of reorganization and rejuvenation. We have toured all the 10 regions of the country with messages of inspiration and hope to our party members and, with our modest contributions, have helped to re-activate dormant party offices. The many offices we have helped to open around the country and the life we have helped bring to otherwise defunct party structures in these places is ample testimony to the relevance and importance of our cause. In a space of two weeks in March 2007, for example, we commissioned 15 offices in the Eastern Region with funds raised through our own efforts. More are to be commissioned in the coming weeks, and we will not let people like Dr. Nduom distract us.

A key component of the strategy of the Patriots has been to engage in activities that attract and bring Nkrumaists together. We maintain an open door to all Nkrumaists who will come without preconditions to serve in rebuilding the party. It might interest Dr. Nduom to know that on the basis of this open-door policy, prominent members of the PNC, NDC, and other parties have attended our meetings in their effort to find their way back home. We’ve always welcomed them with open arms, as a nationalist party should do. We have left aside for the time being the things that divide us (positions, symbols and the like) as we focus on the things that unite us (commitment to our party values and the search for viable solutions to the problems of the day).

The Patriots have concentrated efforts on revamping party structures and deliberately avoided discussions of party policies so as to avoid differences with Party leadership. Over time we have gained the confidence and support of party members and sympathizers throughout the country. The Council of Elders of the party has supported our position on major party issues; the Central Committee of the party does recognize our contribution to party effort and constantly invites us to partake in party activities; and our members now sit on all the major committees of the Party as part of our collective efforts to find solutions to the party’s problems. The mutual suspicions and misunderstandings of the past have now given way to a common cause, which is to win power in 2008. We are proud to note that the party’s Chairman and leader. Dr. Edmund Delle inaugurated the Patriots-sponsored Eastern Regional CPP Secretariat at Koforidua on March 25th 2007.

We are aware that despite his public denials, Dr. Nduom sends his agents to offices that the Patriots have commissioned where these agents collect signatures for the new political party that he’s contemplating forming, which for now he calls the Political Movement. We are also aware that despite entreaties by his fellow Nkrumaists MPs to dissuade him from such subversive activities, Dr. Nduom has persisted, apparently consumed by his own sense of self-importance as well as the myriad and contradictory ambitions and agendas that he harbours.

We believe that no individual is indispensable to the Party – or above its rules. Hence, when any individual attempts to put his narrow personal interests above those of the party, as Dr. Nduom is doing, we feel a moral and constitutional duty to stop him. We have done so in the past and will continue to do it.

Lastly, we wish to remind Dr. Nduom that serving in government – especially the government of another party – is not the only way to serve one’s nation. Providing credible policy alternatives as an opposition party and ensuring that the government of the day does the proper thing is equally important, if not more so. It’s all about principles and how one pursues his personal interest vis-à-vis those of his party.

We call on Dr. Nduom to help rebuild the CPP, or at least stop sabotaging efforts of those who are.

Forward Ever Backward Never!

Signed …………………………………………….

F. K. Benyarko (Chairman, CPP Patriots)

Contact Person: Dr. Kwaku Osafo 024.436.4398