Dr Delle picks forms for CPP Chairmanship

Accra, June 24, GNA - Professor Edmund Delle, Former National Chairman of Convention People's Party (CPP), on Friday re-affirmed his intension to contest for the Chairmanship position again when he picked nomination forms at the Party headquarters in Accra. Mr Kojo Armah, Member of the CPP Congress Committee, handed over the forms to Prof Delle and urged all aspirants to adhere to the principles and guidelines of the party.

The party opened for nominations for the various positions from Monday, June 20 and is expected to close on Friday, June 24. Aspirants for the National Chairman's slot are expected to pay GH¢10,000 as nomination fees, while those contesting for National Vice-Chairman, General Secretary and National Treasurer's position would pay GH¢7,500.

The party would hold its two-day National Delegates Congress at Takoradi in the Western Region from July 23 to 24, to elect national officers to steer the affairs of the party. It would be attended by delegates from all the 230 constituencies nationwide. It would organise another congress in Tamale on September 30, to elect a flag bearer.

Prof. Delle arrived in the company of some members of his campaign team amidst singing and drumming. In a document dubbed 93The ORS Blueprint" Prof. Delle outlined his vision for a re-branded CPP that would be well energised and poised to re-capture its past political glory. He said ORS was the acronym for Overhauling, Replenishing and Success which sought to redeem the party's dwindling electoral fortunes and reposition itself as a formidable political force in the country.

Prof. Delle said the party needed to undergo overhauling because since the advent of the Fourth Republic, the CPP had been on the fringes of the country's political system and currently had only one parliamentary seat in Jomoro.

He explained that the overhauling would involve reactivation of the party's structures from the ward to the National Executive level to ensure greater impact in Election 2012.

Prof. Delle noted that the party needed rejuvenation and innovation to shore up its fortunes in Election 2012 which required unity, consensus building and tenacity of purpose.

He explained that the overhauling and replenishing of the CPP would set the party in motion for success in Election 2012 and beyond. "The CPP stands at the crossroads to move backward into political disintegration or set a democratic standard of coming out of the congress more united with both winners and losers jubilating together," he said.

Prof. Delle said there was the need to replenish the party's human resource base through capacity building of its leaders as well as identifiable groups, adding 93the exercise requires 93all hands on deck" to enable the party to make good use of the skills and resources of its members."

He said there was the need to create a special intra-party dialogue platform for all CPP flag bearer aspirants before and after the congress to reduce any animosity among them.

Mr Francis Opai Tetteh, a Member of the CPP, also picked the nomination forms to contest for the party's National Youth Organiser, and hoped to bring on board strategies that would change the fortunes of the party by engaging the youth.

He said he would mobilise the youth as polling station ambassadors responsible for every activity at the polling station and raise funds to re-ignite the party. Ms Christina Samia Yaba Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Jomoro, has also picked up forms to contest the position of National Chairmanship of the Party.