EU calls on Nduom, Eva

A delegation from the European Union (EU) yesterday called on the flag bearer of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, and his running mate, Ms. Eva Naa Merley Lokko, in Accra.

The EU delegation led by Mr. Claud Maerten went into a closed door meeting with the PPP leadership to ostensibly deliberate on sensitive issues bothering on Ghana’s impending elections. Briefing the media after the meeting, Dr. Nduom explained that the meeting was held in closed doors in order to protect the interest of everybody and also make sure they have an open discussion.

He stressed that with the PPP being a party with strong influence in the country and the European Union (EU) also having phenomenal impact in Ghana as a development partner, the two groups wanted to share their individual views on the political process for the December elections.

He pointed out that the views of PPP are not new to Ghanaians making particular reference to the blatant abuse of incumbency by the NDC which his party strongly frowns upon and would continue to speak against it everywhere.

Dr. Nduom further lamented that though Ghana has transcended from Military dictatorships to the election of Presidents, he could confidently say that the country is still run in a dictatorial manner because of the sheer amount of power the head of state wields through the constitution. He also complained that the ruling NDC and NPP have not shown any sign of their willingness to amend the constitution to correct these anomalies even in power.

“Let’s take a lot of that power away from the President and give it to the people to decide who should be their DCE’s, MCE’s etc., just as the Constitution Review Commission said we should vote for our Assembly men, Metropolitan Chief Executives etc.”

Dr. Nduom advocated for a check and balance to be put in place to ensure strong and independent Legislature since the influence of the Executive on the Legislature was not the best. On corruption, the PPP flag bearer re-echoed that the Attorney- General’s Department should be decoupled from the Ministry of Justice “in order to have an independent prosecutor’s office who can take up matters irrespective of one being a President or a Minister of state just as we have an independent EC.” “The kind of change that needs to come in our societies can only come if someone is promoting this real change agenda,” he said.

He was of the opinion that development can be sped up if people at the local level elect their own leaders citing the example of developed countries that elect Mayors and local authorities to buttress his point.

He informed the media that his running mate will be focusing on the ‘incorruptible leadership’ message: a message he contends would be the main electoral message for people to understand the exigencies of that calibre of leadership for the country.

Later in the day, Ms Lokko called on the management and staff of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd., where she interacted with and encouraged the media to pay attention to the smaller political parties in the race for the 2012 polls. According to her, the smaller parties like the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) have policies that can also help transform the destiny of the country; hence the need for prominence. The Editor of the state-owned newspaper, Mr. Ransford Tetteh, also reminded the PPP delegation to the firm which included its National Chairman, Nii-Allotey Brew-Hammond, and other parliamentary aspirants of the party that the group would stick to its core mandate as stipulated in the 1992 constitution and ne objective in its reportage. He further revealed that Daily

Graphic as part of the process of granting political parties in the country the opportunity to make their policies known would in October commence a form of weekly review which would offer all the political parties in the country a page a week to communicate to Ghanaians its policies and programmes. The group was also taking on a tour of the company and its subsidiary, G-PAK.