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05.05.2012 CPP

CPP Blames NDC, NPP For Economic Woes

By Dominic Moses Awiah - Daily Graphic
CPP Blames NDC, NPP For Economic Woes
05.05.2012 LISTEN

The Convention People’s Party (CPP) has blamed the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the high unemployment rate in the country which has resulted from the ineffective economic policies of the two parties.

“The poor economic development management performance of the NDC and the NPP is the outcome of their implementation of externally dictated development policies.

“Their policy of expropriation of the state and re-deployment in the public sector caused mass unemployment in the economy, depleted membership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and reduced public demand and consumption. This so-called development policy continues to mire and root us in poverty and dependency,’’ it said.

Addressing journalists in AccraMonday, ahead of May Day celebration, the Chairman of the Political Affairs Committee of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said since the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1966 by “traitors and quislings in our country’’, the labour force of the economy had suffered at the hands of politicians who had abused the system for their personal gain.

The theme for the party’s annual labour day is, “Ghana Must Work Again”.

Articulating the CPP’s policy on labour, Mr Duncan said: ‘’As a result of their destructive policies of pillage and expropriation, our country imports almost all its needs of manufactured products, from toothpick to aircraft, including used items. Our currency is losing value every day because our import expenditure exceeds our receipts.’’

He said the key to restoring the country’s hope of regaining its economic stability relied on the adoption of the Nkrumaist development philosophy of decolonisation.

According to him, Dr Nkrumah’s approach required the development of productive resources to satisfy domestic demand and exports, the diversification of the agricultural export commodity sector, the modernisation of food and raw material agriculture for food security, the development of inter-regional and continental trade and investment in the social sectors of health, education and housing.

“These, we believe, are the path to employment and wealth creation, economic independence and social protection and not the bogus and fraudulent externally dictated Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) that is implemented by the NPP and the NDC governments,’’ Mr Duncan added.

He said private sector development and an expansion of the informal segment were an integral part of the growth and development implementation strategy of the CPP, stressing, “Although our development challenges are economic, the solution is political and we must first overcome the propaganda and psychological warfare that emphasises our weakness and deny our strengths.’’

He, therefore, called on the labour force to rise up and unite under the banner of the development goals of the CPP to end what he said was a major crisis in the economy.

“Our philosophy, therefore, directs an engagement with labour, science and technology and the private sector for nurturing the necessary effective partnership for social dialogue to achieve our economic and social goals,’’ he added.

Touching on the alleged violence that had characterised the ongoing biometric voters registration exercise, the Chairperson of the CPP, Ms Samia Yaba Nkrumah, attributed the situation to the unwillingness on the part of political party leaders to sanction their members who flouted the code and conduct of the Electoral Commission (EC).

She appealed to the political parties to put national unity, peace and security ahead of their individual objectives and urged them to educate their thugs on the guidelines for registration issued by the EC.

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