Can CPP win power again?

“There are some of us…who will fight and fight and fight again to save the party we love.” Hugh Gaitskell (1906 – 1963), British politician.

There is a school of thought that believes that the pendulum of Ghana’s multi-party democracy is controlled by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). And that at any given national election, this pendulum can swing to any of the two political parties depending on the economic situations of the time.
In fact, those who hold this view have based their argument on the fact that since the birth of the 1992 Constitution, which ushered our beloved country, Ghana, into the 4th Republic, the NDC and the NPP have continuously and largely been at the forefront of Ghana’s body politic.
To some extent, it is true; and many Ghanaians are inclined to share in this school of thought. Indeed, statistics available indicate that out of five General Elections successfully organised from the period of 1992-2008, NDC and NPP have had a fair share of the Ghanaian mandate to steer the affairs of this nation. Whereas the NDC have won three out of the five, the NPP, on the other hand, emerged the victor in the 2000 and 2004 polls respectively.
Since the 1992 Constitution came into force, not even the great Convention People’s Party (CPP) – a political party noted for its strong organisation and electoral success in the 60s – has been able to break the duo-poly jinx of the NDC and the NPP. Of course, formed some 60 years ago, the CPP is the only political party to have suffered most from the many military coup d’états in the country.
In the period of 1996-1998, the CPP was banned as a political party from contesting in General Elections in the country. It was for this reason that the party could not contest in the 1992 Election. Interestingly, the situation at the time also saw splinter groups emerging within the CPP. Some of such groups included the National Convention Party (NCP), the People’s Convention Party (PCP) and the People’s Heritage Party (PHP).
It was only in 1998 that the CPP name was restored which therefore allowed the party to contest in the 2000 polls. Until then, many of the CPP-splinter groups have played instrumental roles in determining the pendulum of political fortune in this nation. First, it was the NDC under President Jeremiah John Rawlings whose party was supported by the NCP in the 1992 polls.
In that election, Mr. Rawlings won by a margin of 58.4%. Thus Mr. Rawlings ruled as a democratically elected president from 1992-2000. The first 4 years of the Rawlings tenure saw in this country a parliament composed almost entirely of candidates of the incumbent regime’s party—the NDC. This was because the NPP and other opposition parties were forced to boycott the parliamentary election for reasons and their belief that Mr. Rawlings and his NDC had rigged the presidential polls. The 1996 General Election again saw incumbent President Rawlings winning a second term mandate.
Well, on the face value of my headline for this week, many Ghanaians will say without mincing words that the CPP cannot win power in this our current democratic dispensation. This answer, I believe, will be informed on the grounds that the CPP is not well organised at the grassroots nationwide. I must add that this has been the main contributory factor of the party’s dismal performance in General Elections since 1992.
The argument goes on that there are many constituencies in this country where the CPP have no party structures. Even though this is something privy to the CPP rank and file, they have done very little to address it. What has been baffling me for quite some time now is why the leadership of the party continues to have a divided front, especially during General Elections.
Another area of concern is the phenomenon where losing CPP flag bearer aspirants openly and sometimes silently refuse to support the presidential candidate elected by the party’s delegates. I entirely disagree with those who think the CPP is a dead horse and can therefore not win power. I believe the CPP with a strong organisation, and a membership that demonstrates to Ghanaians that it is a force to reckon with, can win power.
This should not be too difficult for a party whose founder, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, believed that organization is the key to winning elections. Why do you think the CPP under Dr. Nkrumah was able to sweep elections in the 1960s? This was achievable because the CPP was much organised at the grassroots with structures and always presented a united front during elections at the time.
But can we sing the same praise for the CPP today? Obviously no! Today, we have a CPP that is and continues to be dogged by internal petty squabbling. We have a CPP where many of its leading members find it comfortable to join the fold of either the NDC or the NPP. We also see a situation where political parties that profess Nkrumaist ideologies have seemingly failed to join forces to present a formidable Nkrumaist force to contest in national elections.
After almost 30 years in political wilderness, the opposition NPP finally got the opportunity to taste power in 2000 under the flag bearership of Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor. Many reasons accounted for the NPP’s victory in 2000. Though we cannot rule out the strong wind of change that blew across Ghana at the time, it is important to note that the NPP was well-organised and the only credible alternative political party that the electorate could look up to at the time.
The NPP going into the 2000 election was much organised at the grassroots level. This strongly placed the NPP in a better position to win the mandate of the Ghanaian electorate and wrestle power from the NDC. With incumbent President Kufuor, the NPP was given another four-year term by Ghanaians to govern.
Not too long the 2008 CPP presidential candidate, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, was reported to have stated in an interview with the Ghanaian Times of Wednesday, July 21, 2010 that unless the CPP and the PNC merge, he will not be part of the party’s activities in 2012. That statement by Dr. Nduom drew a lot of criticism from members of the CPP.
In my opinion, I agree with Dr. Nduom. I want to assert further that if Nkrumaist parties come together under a single umbrella they should be able to convince Ghanaians to give them the mandate to govern this country. I also believe that such a merger will ensure one big Nkrumaist family that will be able to stand the test of time and break the duo-poly of NDC and NPP. What Ghanaians are looking forward to is a credible alternative party that will do things differently from the NDC and the NPP to improve the lot of Ghanaians many of whom are wallowing in abject poverty.
My piece of advice to the CPP and all Nkrumaist political parties is that they should work towards coming together to present a formidable force capable of winning power. I believe when all Nkrumaist parties join forces and work hard the electorate of this nation will return them to power to enable them implement their human-centered policies.

credit: DIARY OF ANANSE
…With Kwamena Ananse