Sekou Slams Samia

Sekou and Samia Nkrumah

Sekou Nkrumah, son of Ghana's first president, appears to have jumped to the defence of Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom who faces expulsion from the Convention People's Party, blaming his sister, Samia Nkrumah's imaturity for her recent confrontation with Dr Nduom.

According to Sekou, on Citi FM yesterday, some people in the CPP were capitalising on Samia's political immaturity to promote their selfish agenda, saying that her criticism of Nduom was too harsh.

He said his sister hit below the belt when she described Dr. Nduom's behavior as 'nonsense.'

'I'll sympathise with Dr. Nduom because he has made his intent to run for president.

 'It looks like the party chair is taking sides. Her position to single out Dr. Nduom as somebody who is trying to create problem is most unfortunate, ' he added.

 'There are factions in the party and she as chairperson is supposed to bring them together. I'm told that some of them [other presidential hopeful] are the ones trying to push her in that direction and that serves their own selfish interest. '

Dr Nduom, in response to Samia, yesterday called her bluff, daring her to expel him from the CPP.

A statement from Dr Nduom's office asked Samia and the party's General Secretary, Ivor Greenstreet to 'sack him now' if they thought he had committed any offence for pushing for an early congress.

Much as Samia and other executives of the CPP appreciated Dr Nduom's contributions, they said the CPP would lose nothing if he decided to leave.

'Nobody in the party, myself included, is indispensable.

'…So when we say we want to do things right, we want people to believe in us and trust us   …members will go and  come, people will cross carpet. It's been happening all the time but a solid, cohesive and inspired party can only increase the electoral fortunes and when you are solid on the ground with these inspired activists, even if you put, excuse me, a goat, they will perfom better than the 1.3% we got in 2008,' she noted.

For her, the 1.3% votes secured by the CPP in the 2008 elections was an indictment on the entire party and not Dr Nduom only.

'What is percieved as division, is what I as leader and  chairman of the party, consider as indiscipline, selfishness and an attempt to impose a cause of action on the whole party by Paa Kwesi Nduom,' she said, describing it as unacceptable.

She said that was why 'we want a presidential candidate of intergrity, of sincerity, of commitment…and someone who does not foment this…and we have those candidates. The future is bright for the CPP.

'We have to take certain measures to curb this indiscipline because it is not worth it. No more indiscipline.

'Yesterday, I had to speak because after weeks of keeping silent, not responding to those negative allegations.'

Halfway into the press conference, a bunch of hoodlums numbering around 30, brought in two buses, stormed the party's Asylum Down headquarters, wanting to enter the premises but were prevented by an armed police team detailed to protect lives and property.

This resulted in some disagreement between the youth who seemed to have been either sponsored or sent to the venue to cause some form of confusion or to disrupt proceedings since they wanted to force their way into the press conference.

The event was held under a tense atmosphere, with people belonging to both sides of the divide casting insinuations at each other, sometimes resulting in open confrontation and had to be seperated  by the police.

The Central Committee of the party, after its meeting, said it would open nominations for its presidential primary for the 2012 elections on January 4 to 27, 2012.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu