Ploy To Weaken CPP Front Exposed

> Ploy To Weaken CPP Front Exposed

The two men on the presidential ticket of the Convention People's Party (CPP) have addressed an impressive crowd at the Jubilee Park in Kumasi and accused some political parties of attempts to infiltrate their camp.

Without mentioning any name, the presidential candidate, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, and his running mate, Dr Abu Foster Sakara, took turns to talk about a plan which they claimed had been hatched by a political party to influence CPP parliamentary candidates to step down and also ensure that some of its national executive members broke its front to weaken the party before the December polls.

They said while the parliamentary aspirants had remained resolute and steadfast, some of the national executive members had succumbed and were undermining the gains the party had made so far.

Explaining, Dr Nduom said some of the candidates had been promised huge sums of money and other material things to step down because of the great strides they had made in their campaigns to annex some seats.

He said through the ingenuity of party executives, such candidates had been prevailed upon not to succumb to those pressures but to remain focused and win the seats to brighten the party's chances of forming the next government.

He said the era when the CPP played second fiddle to some political parties and supported them to win political power was over.

He noted that the CPP would assert itself and prove to the world that “this is Kwame Nkrumah's CPP that is campaigning”, not any other weak party.

He said the party supported the NDC during the 1992 elections. It did the same under the guise of the great alliance with the NPP in 1996, with the view to fielding common candidates, but in the end the NPP fielded candidates in all the constituencies and that dashed the CPP's chances, while it boosted the NPP's.

He said the CPP again supported the NPP in 2000 to win power, but added that “this is our time and we, with the support of Ghanaians, will make history”.

Dr Sakara said at this critical moment when the party was on the verge of making history, some leading members were talking about issues that had the tendency to derail the gains and bring the party to a standstill.

He said some people in the party had made great contributions to it, including time, resources and energy, to brighten its chances, while others were sitting idle and, through influence by some others, wanted to thwart its efforts.

“Our resolve is to support Dr Nduom and the parliamentary candidates to win handsomely. In every struggle there are bound to be hurdles, especially from some few bad nuts, but we will not allow them to derail us,” he added.

It was a joyous sight when, during his tour of some principal streets of Kumasi, Dr Nduom, who was standing in his Ford vehicle and doing his “yeresesam'” sign, received applause from both NDC and NPP supporters.

At Aboabo, some NPP supporters who had apparently ended their gathering started doing the Kangaroo dance, while Dr Nduom also did his “yeresesam” sign, a situation that attracted a lot of people and excitement.

Story By Donald Ato Dapatem, Kumasi