CPP Plans Varsity For Nkroful

THE CONVENTION People's Party (CPP) is poised to establish a Pan-African University at Nkroful to research into the work, philosophy and ideology of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, founder of the party and first President of Ghana.

Dr. Kwaku Osafo made this known when he launched his campaign to contest for the CPP flagbearership at Nkroful at the weekend.
He mentioned that he had already registered a company, together with a group of Ghanaians in the United States of America to build that university to commemorate the great works of Dr. Nkrumah.

He hinted that the chiefs and people of Nkroful had already allocated 150 acres of land for that purpose, noting that the institution, when it comes into being, would help increase the intellectual output on African affairs and as well attract Africans at home and in the Diaspora and scholars from all over the world to learn, teach and do research.

He said the time was ripe for the country to recapture the developmental agenda of the CPP by ensuring that Ghana becomes an industrialized country where there is free and compulsory education from basic up to second cycle level, while ensuring that each region gets at least one university.

According to Dr. Osafo, a government under his leadership would revise all gold and mineral agreements which are not in the interest of the nation, contending that government's current shares in most of the gold mining companies were nothing to write home about.

He noted that unless the CPP was properly revived to take over the reins of government, the late Dr. Nkrumah would continue to turn in his grave.

“This is the time to work very hard to gain political power to rid our country of poverty, disease, suffering and ignorance as was initially tackled by the founder of our great party.”

The CPP presidential aspirant expressed sadness at the current state of about 300 state-owned enterprises which had gone defunct, and argued that if the New Patriotic Party (NPP) actually believed that the private sector was the engine of growth, Ghanaian businessmen would have been given the needed capital and support to push the economy forward.

He wondered why what Ghanaian consultants could do better in the areas of agriculture, architecture, finance, engineering and other disciplines were always given to foreign consultants thus underestimating our intelligence, capabilities and killing the Ghanaian and African initiative.

“CPP will encourage Ghanaian ingenuity and assist in producing and manufacturing lots of products in our own country. We can turn the Kokompes and Kumasi Suame and Magazine into big industrial hubs by investing into their business some venture capital to make Ghanaians proud of themselves and their future,” Dr. Osafo remarked.

The launch was chaired by Abusua Kpanyinli Nyame Blay, Acting Chief of Nkroful, who made it clear that government should understand that their predecessors, chiefs and people of Nkroful and its surroundings had vowed not to allow surface mining in the area and would forever stand by their word.

He explained that the people had very little land at their disposal which is basically used for farming and would therefore never sacrifice it for surface mining, damn the consequences.

Mr. Eduku Arizi, a 97-year-old man and first cousin of the late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, appealed to all splinter groups of the CPP to be more united than ever.

He said both the paternal and maternal families of the late Dr. Nkrumah had given their blessings to all aspiring presidential candidates of the CPP and not to only Paa Kwesi Nduom as erroneously reported by a section of the media.

He indicated that Dr. Osafo had over the past 15 years been paying courtesy calls every year on the family of Nkrumah at Nkroful and often visited Nkrumah's tomb to take inspiration from him.

He wished Dr. Osafo well in his political ambition.

From Sam Mark Essien, Nkroful