Samia Picks Form For CPP Chairmanship Slot
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Ms Samia Yaaba Nkrumah, yesterday made good her intention to lead the Convention People’s Party (CPP) by being the first to pick nomination forms to contest the chairmanship of the party.
Ms Nkrumah, the only CPP MP, who also the daughter of the Founder of the CPP and Ghana, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, arrived at the headquarters of the party to pick the forms in the company of some members of her campaign team.
The picking of nominations forms for the various national positions of the CPP began yesterday and is expected to end on Friday, June 24.
Prospective candidates who are yet to pick their nomination forms for the chairmanship are Professor. Edmund Delle, a former Chairman of the party, Mr Nadi Nylander, the incumbent Chairman, and Ms Araba Bentsi-Enchil.
Ms Nkrumah told reporters that the CPP needed a new face of hope, adding, “I am prepared to offer that leadership to bring the party to its former glory.”
“The delegates see in me the agent of the radical change the CPP is yearning for in order to make a meaningful impact in the country’s current political dispensation,” she said.
She stated that for some time now the CPP had only been confined to Accra, to the detriment of the grass roots where the real action was, adding, “We will have to get back to the ordinary Ghanaian and not only sit in Accra to take decisions.”
“The CPP needs strong men and women who will not lean on other parties but can stand on their own to package the party to make it more appealing to the ordinary Ghanaian,” she said.
She stated that even though the CPP had a lot of goodwill among Ghanaians, it was not being translated into votes during elections due to lack of cohesion and precision in the presentation of messages.
Ms Nkrumah said the revitalised CPP under her leadership would focus on winning more votes and more seats in Parliament during the 2012 general election.
“I represent the radical change in the CPP,” she declared, and urged delegates of the party to offer her the opportunity to change the current poor image of the party.
The CPP is expected to hold a two-day national delegates congress in Takoradi from July 23 - 24, 2011 to elect national officers to steer the affairs of the party.
Prospective candidates who pick nomination forms are expected to file their nomination between Monday, June 27 and Wednesday, July 6, 2011.
The Administrator at the CPP headquarters, Mr Jonathan Attoh, told the Daily Graphic that Nii Armah Akomfrah had also picked forms for the general secretary contest.
Candidates vying for the national chairmanship position are expected to pay GH¢10,000 as nomination fees, while those competing for the vice-chairman, general secretary and national treasure positions are also expected to pay GH¢7,500.
Candidates for the national organiser, national women’s organiser and national youth organiser positions will pay GH¢2,500 before filing their nominations.
Meanwhile the Ghana News Agency (GNA) reports that the Convention People’s Party (CPP) will hold a two-day national delegates congress at Takoradi in the Western Region to elect national officers to steer the affairs of the party.
The congress, which will be organised between July 23 and 24 will attract delegates from all the 230 constituency of the party.
This was contained in a statement signed by Wing Commander Patrick Sogbojor (rtd) in Accra.
According to the statement, the party will also organise a second congress at Tamale on September 30, 2011 to elect the party’s flag bearer.
“The 2011 Congress Committee of the Convention People’s Party wishes to confirm that the Central Committee of the party at a meeting held on Thursday, June 16, 2011, approved the proposed schedule of congresses and conferences for the year”, the statement said.
Its regional conferences will be held throughout the country before the national congress to elect new officers.
The statement gave the breakdown as; Eastern Region – Thursday, June 30, 2011; Northern Region – Saturday, July 2, 2011; Upper East Region – Sunday, July 3, 2011, and Brong Ahafo Region – Saturday, July 9, 2011.
The rest are Upper West Region – Saturday, July 10, 2011; Western Region – Saturday, July 16, 2011; Central Region – Sunday, July 17, 2011; Volta Region –
Tuesday, July 19, 2011, and Greater Accra Region – Thursday, July 21, 2011.
The congress for the election for regional officers in the Ashanti Region has already taken place.
“We look forward to the kind co-operation of the rank and file, as well asstakeholders, for the implementation of the schedule,” the statement said.
The release of the congress timetable comes a few days after a group known as the Concerned Youth for Convention People’s Party’s Renaissance had called on the party leadership to immediately make public a detailed schedule for the national delegates congress to elect national leaders of party.
“The inconsistency in fixing a definite date for congress and inability of the national leadership to outline the congress calendar - dates for opening and closing of nominations, vetting of aspirants and qualification of delegates and other vital information - is dangerous.
“The national leadership seems to be playing a smart game with the congress in which most of them are seeking re-election, holding the master card close to their chest against other aspirants and releasing vital information at their comfort,”
Mr Frederick Opoku, the spokesperson for the group, said in Accra last Wednesday.
The Concerned Youth for CPP’s Renaissance is a pressure group established to support the leadership and the party to convince and attract the youth in the country to join the CPP.
Mr Opoku observed that the party leadership had postponed the date for the national delegates congress three times since April this year.
“Things are getting worse, leading to incessant court actions by some party faithful who, for whatever reasons, are dissatisfied with some decisions, which, to them, are alien to the constitution of the party.
“As a concerned youth group in the party, we consider the act of omission on the part of the current leadership not only regrettable but also shameful to the party”, he indicated.
The confirmation of the date for the national delegates congress vindicates an earlier position by a former National Chairman of the CPP, Professor Edmund Nminyem Delle, who called for the postponement of the congress which was first scheduled for April 30, 2011.
Professor Delle, who is seeking re-election as national chairman, had proposed that the congress which was slated for last March that the national should be scheduled for June or July.
'It is practically impossible to organise ward, constituency and regional conferences to elect executives before April ending which is a mandatory prerequisite for a National Delegates Congress,” he said.
'Political parties use periods before, during and after congresses as platforms to market the party's leadership and objectives for contesting in a general election; CPP must not lose sight of the opportunity,' Prof Delle said.
He said “as a former national leader of the party I also sympathise with the constituency, regional and other officers who have been pushed to organise congresses without the needed logistics'.
Since that call, the leadership of the party has postponed the congress date three times, from April to May, from May to June and finally from June to July.
Three leading members of the party – Professor Delle; the party’s Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Ms Samia Nkrumah, and the incumbent chairman, Mr Ladi Nylander – have expressed their interest to contest the chairmanship slot.