President John A..Kufour’s words on his recent trip to London - “…we have signed ROPAA into law and are bringing the ballot box to you to vote in Ghana’s elections from where you live.”, seems to have re-ignited the ROPAA debit again among Ghanaians in the UK and the Ghanaian Radio Stations were quick to seek feedback from the politicians in the UK
The CPP were out over the weekend to make the point that much of the debate on the Representation of The People’s Amendment Bill (ROPAB) before it was passed into law and became Representation of The People’s Amendment Act (ROPAA) saw questionable arguments along the lines that most Ghanaians in the diaspora left Ghana at a time of great hardship during the (P)NDC era and thus should they be given the vote likely to opt for the ruling NPP government.
In interviews with radio stations in London this weekend both the Chairman of the UK& Ireland branch of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) Mr Nii Armah Akomfrah and Vice Chairman – Nana Oduro challenged that premise , saying that a CPP dimension was not explored or largely ignored in that debate and that such arguments were not based on the facts within the Ghanaian community abroad.
Both hammered home the point that there are a number of other factors which must be taken into consideration to understand the likely dynamics and impact of the disporan vote i.e.
• There is a sizeable community of CPP members and sympathises driven into or forced to stay in exile by both the UP/NPP and (P)/NDC actions in Ghana.
• A vast majority of Ghanaians in the diaspora are not faced with the “moneytics” of Ghanaian politics introduced by the NDC or the overwhelming influence of so called “ Opinion Leaders” in our local electoral areas in Ghana.
• Many Ghanaians abroad influenced by the norms of their country of residence are able to be quite objective in their assessment of the current Government on its strengths and weaknesses, and clearly in most eyes the weaknesses are currently out- weighing any strengths, particularly as many can testify to increased poverty and hardship through their increased remittances to family members in Ghana.
• That the CPP branches abroad are more dynamic than their counterparts in the other two parties, and organizationally more capable.
• The CPP would be able to call on a sizeable element of the non-Ghanaian , Black and progressive community to assist financially and physically in the monitoring of elections because of affinity, love and respect for Dr Kwame Nkrumah and his legacy.
• That the CPP ‘s international capacity continues to strengthen and with the use of the internet has built a formidable network of Nkrumahists across the globe which cannot be matched by the other two parties.
• The North America Branch under Mr Ato Sackey for example grows from strength to strength
Mr Akomfrah said that the intellectual capacity within the CPP internationally was second to non and that the CPP was ready for ROPAA whenever it comes. Both Chairman and Vice Chairman pointed out that there are numerous International agencies on electoral law, numerous electoral reform societies in several countries across the world and the CPP would call on all to play an active role not just in monitoring but in assessing the adequacy and fairness of the systems that the Ghana government and Ghana’s Electoral Commission puts in place to conduct any such elections. Mr Akomfrah said “the test would be whether these are in line with International norms” We are ready to embarrass the other two main parties said the CPP Leaders in the UK.
Forward Ever
R.N.A Akomfrah
Chairman for Convention People’s Party (CPP UK & Ireland) Secretariat cppuk@hotmail.com cppyouth@gmail.com
