Gt. Accra CPP Demands Early Congress To Elect Flagbearer
Executives from seven constituencies of the Convention People's Party (CPP) in the Greater Accra Region have demanded an early congress not later than December 2011, to elect the party's flag bearer for the 2012 general elections.
The group is made up of executives from Krowor, Obom Domeabra, Ayawaso Central and East Ayawaso Constituencies. The rest are Drobo Amasaman, Okai Kwei South and Korley Klottey constituencies.
According to them, there were deliberate attempts by the party's current national executives to delay the organisation of an early national congress to elect the parties presidential and parliamentary candidates as stipulated by its constitution unduly.
Speaking at a news conference in Accra on behalf of the group, Mohammed Huga Yakubu, the Okai Kwei North Constituency Secretary made reference to remarks by the party's chairperson Samia Yaba Nkrumah and General Secretary Ivor Greenstreet on an Accra-based radio station that the party was unable to organise a congress to elect a flag bearer until sometime next year.
Mr Yakubu expressed worry over the said remarks saying that as stakeholders in the affairs of the party, they failed to 'appreciate the rationale, logic and constitutionality of such a position'.
He said the grassroot members of the party were going to resist any such attempts to thwart the demands of the party's constitution.
Mr Yakubu alleged that some particular members of the CPP's current national executive had started arrogating for themselves powers that were clearly not theirs.
He referred to the party's constitution which said the party was required to go for congress two clear years before the national elections.
According to him, the inability of the party to organise its congresses early in the past was one of the reasons responsible for the abysmal performance it had made in previous national elections.
Outlining the major problems militating against the CPP, Mr Yakubu said the CPP had weak structures and in some constituencies, it had no structures at all.
The party was inadequately represented in parliament, with the eventual effects being a lack of representation in major public debates.
He said the party's executives had resisted calls on it to withdraw from the Presidential race and redirect its focus on gaining Parliamentary votes in the past, saying they were going to resist it again as such calls were baseless.
As grassroot activists, Mr Yakubu said voters were not going to endorse any Parliamentary candidate if there was no arrow head in the person of a Presidential candidate.
The competition among the flag bearer aspirants would also raise the fortunes of the party as it would present the party with platform to sell its message to the voting public.
'We dare say without any contradiction that, the CPP will be worse off without an early election of a Presidential candidate' Mr Yakubu said.
He likened the situation of the Convention People's Party to that of the Patriotic Front (PF) in Zambia, where a party which was hitherto thought to be insignificant until recently when they won that country's election to rule.
He said the CPP had the capability to also rise up to the challenge of assuming power.
He further stated that the decision by the current executives not to organise an early congress had the potential to fuel suspicions, division and apathy in the party's campaign in the run up to the 2012 elections.
According to him, the immediate past executives did well to fast track its recent congress as a result of its quest to give the party ample time to prepare for the general elections.
'The CPP has men and women of eminence and achievements who are capable of leading this country out of the socio-economic doldrums we find ourselves in, under the circus of governance being foisted on us since the overthrow of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah' Mr Yakubu said the leadership of the CPP must not do anything to deny these men that opportunity.