Go Nduom, Go!

Yesterday at the International Press Centre in Accra, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom launched his bid to once again lead the Convention People’s Party’s (CPP) in the 2012 election. The event as expected attracted many stakeholders including members and supporters of the CPP throughout the country, and was also beamed live on the nation’s broadcaster, Ghana Television, and other leading media outlets. Some four years ago, Dr. Nduom made a claim to the Ghanaian presidency when he launched a similar bid for the CPP presidential ticket where he was eventually given the nod by CPP delegates on December 7, 2007 in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital. Unlike many other parties, the internal bickering in the CPP in the days up to the CPP presidential nomination in 2007 and beyond bugged the party, especially against its presidential candidate, resulting in a very abysmal performance of the CPP. Despite the poor showing, one thing became clear: The Nduom presidential campaign brought much excitement within the CPP to the extent that many youth voluntarily clamoured for CPP membership cards. One singular feat which is still etched in the minds of CPP supporters and other Ghanaians was the all popular rally held on 21st September, 2008, the birthday date of the founder of the CPP, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, which brought the entire Ghana to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle where the event took place. It was a rally that CPP introduced its supporters with other party members showing their membership cards. It was indeed a major novelty in the history of the CPP when the party’s name was restored by the courts in 1998. The CPP renews its rebuilding exercise this year with a highly disciplined and exciting delegates congress to elect new executives to run the CPP for the next four years. The large number of patrons of the event clearly gave an indication that the CPP can only get better if stakeholders can forge a common front devoid of petty quarrelling. Dr. Nduom leads the new-look CPP today with his campaign launch which from all indications rocked the very foundation of the country. We hope others will follow suit. To show his commitment towards the revival of the CPP and visibility of the party, Dr. Nduom in particular has built about twenty-five new offices and also provided funding for the building of new CPP offices across the country. The gesture shows a man who is all ready to lead the CPP to improve upon its 2008 performance and that of his own in 2012 and perhaps what he and the party need is the peace of mind to restore the CPP to its rightful place in Ghanaian politics, of course with the help of others. This is the time the CPP needs peace and a sense of common purpose. What the party members should know is that Ghanaians are still yearning for a credible party to get them out of the claws of party governance so far churned out by the NDC and the NPP. What the CPP needs to know is that the problem is not about certain individuals but unpopular desire to get certain elements out of the party. People like Dr. Nduom and some others have struggled all this far to get the party to this level, but yet they did not deter anybody from joining the party. So why the hate campaign to get some of the big-wigs out of the CPP? This is the biggest challenge confronting the Samia-led administration. For now, all that we can say is that Go, Nduom, Go!