The Presidential candidate of the Convention People's Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has embarked on a nation wide tour to thank Ghanaians, particularly CPP members, executives and parliamentary candidates for their sacrifice, co-operation and efforts.

He asked members of the party to feel encouraged even though the votes the CPP obtained were disappointing, saying ' We now need to build a greater sense of purpose, unity, discipline and obtain the resources we can use to become a party Ghanaians can entrust the administration of the country to in the near future.' 

Briefing the Daily Graphic, he said 'our party has demonstrated that it can attract goodwill and excite the people.'' 

Already, the tour has taken Dr Nduom and his campaign team to the Greater Accra, Volta and Eastern regions. The Greater Accra meeting was attended by Dr Abu Sakara, Mrs  Araba Bentsi-Enchill, Mrs  Susan Adu-Amankwah, the Chairman of the Greater Accra Region, and other executives. Others also included Mr  Felix Amoah, Mr David Ampofo, Mr Richmond Lamptey and Mr  Richmond Keelson. 

He asked them to consider that a year ago, not too many people would have considered the CPP to be one of the leading contenders in the race for the Flagstaff House.  

But during this year's campaign, the party has been given serious attention and recognition. 

 
With a great message, perseverance, consistency and a peaceful, purposeful campaign, we were considered a force to reckon with, he stated.  

 He said in many cases, the CPP was considered a rising third force and a potential king maker.  

Even as the country prepared for the run-off, the CPP remains in the centre of attention as its influence is actively being sought by the two parties still in contention.

Dr  Nduom charged functionaries of the party to identify the 400,000 people who registered with the party and give them sufficient reasons to become active and develop the loyalty necessary for them to become reliable foot soldiers for the CPP.  

To Dr Nduom, this was the time to strengthen the party and unite all components of the organisation. 

He asked members to close ranks and work toward improving the electoral fortunes of the party in the next elections.

The members of his campaign team also recounted the difficulties they faced in catering for the needs of the party's supporters and instances where delays in providing funds for polling agents led to some abandoning their stations. 

 
Other members and key supporters were alleged to have shifted camp during the last two weeks of the campaign when the NDC and NPP people went around to deliver various incentives to voters.  

The executive asked Dr Nduom and the party to work hard to compete favourably in all of these areas the next time. 

In the Eastern Region, Mr S.O. Mpare, the Regional Chairman, thanked Dr Nduom for his selfless and tireless efforts at reviving the party to attract a lot of people, especially the youth.  

He promised to support him in whatever was  to build a strong CPP to win the next election. 

In the Volta Region, Major Agbeko Sedziafa on behalf of the region thanked Dr Nduom for investing so much to make the CPP attractive and interesting, and hoped he would continue to provide leadership that will make the party stronger. 

The Parliamentary candidates expressed their gratitude to Dr Nduom for the vehicles, motor cycles, posters and funds provided ,and hoped that in future more resources would be made available in good time to enable them perform better.  

The constituency executives asked for new elections as some of their executives had switched camps during the campaign.

Dr Nduom promised to ensure that where there were no party offices, he would personally ensure that the situation was corrected by the end of January, 2009. An inventory was taken immediately during the meetings to determine where need existed. 

On the run-off scheduled for December 28, Dr Nduom informed everyone about the party's position of 'neutral for now' and advised everyone to abide by that.  Dr Nduom promised the people that he viewed his 2008 campaign as just the beginning of his national political career. 

From the Political Desk