CPP: Whose Agenda Is At Stake?

Samia Yaba Nkrumah - CPP Chairperson

Is the Convention People’s Party on a slippery slope or getting out of line to become a major player in national politics?

If one considers the slammings going on in the party in recent times, one does not need to be a political prophet or soothsayer to predict that all is not well with this great tradition of a political party and that if the trend continues, the CPP will no doubt perform abysmally under the current national executive which is led by Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah.

After the dust of excitement had settled with the euphoric election of the Samia-led executive, what is happening in the CPP leaves a sour taste in the mouth of proponents of democracy.

Barely three months into their term of office, the CPP which twice ruled Ghana in the First and Third republics under Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Dr Hilla Limann, respectively, seems to be slipping.

And the fact is that members of the CPP are simply refusing and failing to talk to one another, are very suspicious of one another, are good at slamming and slaying one another, do not respect and regard one another’s contributions to the party, do not see the good in each member’s abilities to harness them for the party’s well-being and growth.

I remember the first time I interviewed Ms Samia Nkrumah three years ago at the residence of the 2008 Flag bearer of the CPP, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, where he had organised a pre-independence anniversary celebration on March 5, 2008. On that day, both Dr Nduom and Samia spoke highly of each other and saw each other as a person of integrity with goodwill towards the CPP and ready to work together in the interest of the party.

Three years down the line, Samia is the Chairperson and leader of the party and Dr Nduom is aspiring to become the 2012 presidential candidate of the party. The question agitating my mind is: What has changed and whose agenda is at play or at stake?

If Dr Nduom’s trouble in the CPP is his call for a sense of urgency within the party and an early congress to elect a presidential candidate for the 2012 election, what is wrong with that? On the other hand, if the party Chairperson, Samia, also believes that the CPP needs to increase its visibility and profile at the grassroots before the party takes steps to organise a congress to elect a flag bearer, it is equally in the right direction. What is worrying is that the party is not talking to itself as much as it ought to be.

I believe that if the members of the party had been talking in a spirit of sincererity, honesty, and respect for one another’s view, a common ground would have been found and the party would not have got to where it got to last week where insults, accusations and counter accusations became the order of the day.

What the CPP needs is to close its ranks and work to tolerate all shades of views and opinions as well as bring on board all well-meaning party functionaries to play a role to build the CPP to have functional regional and constituency offices throughout the country.

For the CPP to close its ranks, it will largely depend on the approach of the Samia-led executives. As leaders of the party, they must initiate and set the tone for brotherliness to prevail. They must not be seen or perceived to be pandering to the wishes, dictates and view points of other interest groupings.

Indeed, it behoves the Samia-led executives to liaise with elders of the party, connect with regional and constituency branches and launch a mass drive for supporters to improve upon the fortunes of the party which is at a low ebb and fast dwindling.

Time is not on the side of the CPP as far as organisation and reorganisation are concerned. They cannot continue to hate and insult one another and pretend to be organising. The cycle of suspicion, disrespect and no goodwill towards one another must cease. The CPP should not spend its energy in needless ventures and verbal exchanges which have no bearing to the growth of the party.

Once the CPP gets down to do serious tangible work, there will be less distractions and divisions because it will soon realise that there is more work to be done on the political arena.

For instance, the CPP needs to quickly organise its primaries for both the presidential and parliamentary elections if it wants to be taken seriously by the Ghanaian voter. There is also the need to build an active and dynamic core of supporters and it requires all its 230 parliamentary candidates as well as its presidential candidate for 2012 to do just that.

The national executive, regional and constituency executives alone cannot successfully prosecute such an agenda. The CPP needs a functional party machinery that can organise and help raise funds for an effective campaign in 2012. It can do this through self mobilisation, self reliant and transparent effective management of the processes. A divided house cannot succeed in this enterprise.

Indeed, the CPP cannot overcome the herculean challenge posed by the ruling National Democratic Congress and the main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party, if they remain divided and disunited. Indeed, the duo-politics of the NDC and the NPP cannot be wished away by empty platitude and rhetorics by members of the CPP.

The Ghanaian electorates will like to see a clear-cut policy direction and decisions emanating from the CPP. In my view, the current executives have been slow in telling their rank and file all the good things they have been doing behind the scene. For instance, the party’s activities are largely not known by the rank and file. Until last week, the party did not have a clear policy direction as to whether it will contest the presidential elections. This led to needless agitation among the party’s rank and file with a call for an early congress as mandated by the party’s adopted new Constitution.

How to make the CPP attractive to other non-CPP members so as to break the jinx of the NDC and NPP duo-politics must be the key focus. The CPP cannot do well in the 2012 election if it does not quickly show strong commitment to improve internal democracy and have a vision of where the party is going.

They must take bold steps to restore public trust and confidence such that it is not said that a vote for the CPP is a vote wasted. The CPP problem should never be about personalities—Samia, Nduom, Aggudey and Akosa, among others. It should be on how to utilise ideas to build a formidable party with vibrant structures and a core of dedicated supporters and voters.

The CPP must adopt an all-inclusive approach, with no one left behind. This is no time for expulsion. The CPP must learn to agree to disagree, after all, that is what democracy is all about. The CPP must avoid headlines such as “Blows in CPP”, “Sekou slams Samia”, Confusion rocks CPP,” and “Sack me and make my day.” The continuous internal bickering will hurt the party and it must stop.

The CPP can prevail but it will not come easy. I will charge Ms Samia Nkrumah in particular to remember that as the leader and chairperson, she has only one teacher—her conscience and integrity. If she fails, she would have failed all those clamouring for more women to be given roles in the body politics of the nation. As leader and chairperson, Samia has to be a patient listener. She should tap the experiences of others before her such as Prof. Delle and Mr Ladi Nylander.

She must also come to grasp with all the perspectives unfolding in the CPP and be able to speak in a manner that unites and portrays her as neutral. At this moment, her careful choice of words is very crucial and critical in the way forward for the party. If she wants to be the new face and spirit of the CPP, she has no choice than to strive to be a ‘Mother Of All.’