You’re welcome to CPP -- Dr Delle urges disqualified aspirants
The National Chairman of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Professor Edmund Delle, has stated that the successful filing of nomination by the party’s presidential candidate, Mr Ivor Greenstreet, vindicates the party’s position that it is the only Nkrumahist party in the country.
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He said the CPP was ready to welcome political parties claiming to believe in the Nkrumahist ideology but whose presidential aspirants had been disqualified into the CPP to form a Third Force for Election 2016.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra at the weekend, Dr Delle said the CPP did not intend to laugh at those who had been disqualified.
“We sympathise with them and it was our wish that they were successful to contest the December 7 elections. The presidential aspirants of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) who also profess the Nkrumahist ideology but have been disqualified should come back home and build a strong CPP,” he said.
Ghanaians hungry for change
Dr Delle said from the four corners of the country, people were yearning for change for the better and they were waiting for the CPP to effect the change
“Now that Ghanaians have experienced the reign of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and felt disappointed, the 2016 elections offer the opportunity for the comeback of the CPP.
“But the question that the electorate have been asking every day is: ‘why don’t you come together to form a third force to take over from the NDC and the NPP hegemony which have not resolved the hardships?’” he said.
He said all true Nkrumahists should not face any difficulty in returning to their mother party, saying: “We have many die-hard CPP people in the NDC and the NPP and this can be seen in our choice of a running mate who served in the previous NPP administration as an aide to former President John Agyekum Kufuor.”
“Over the last 20 years, none of the Nkrumahist political parties has done well because we remain fragmented. I believe the CPP is the party of choice, provided we are united,” he said.
According to him, the record of the CPP government was yet to be equalled by successive regimes and challenged anybody to a debate over Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s achievements.
“Despite the challenges that have confronted our efforts to unite since 1992, majority of Ghanaians still have faith in the CPP, especially after the parties that have ruled the country over the last 20 years have only compounded the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian,” Dr Delle said.
Massive campaign
Asked how the campaign of the party’s presidential candidate was faring, he said: “Young and energetic Greenstreet is doing well, touching base with the rank and file in the country.”
“Indeed, physically challenged people are touched by the choice of Mr Greenstreet as a presidential candidate because he gives them hope that it is not about disability but the ability and self-belief to perform,” he added.
Dr Delle asked Ghanaians to watch out because Mr Greenstreet was in for a big surprise that would mark the rebirth of the Nkrumahist tradition since 1992 when the country adopted multi-party rule.
He said he was hopeful that Ghanaians would give the party the opportunity to bring back the “nostalgia of the good old CPP days”.