CPP wages war on NPP

The Weekly Insight reports that the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) is in a no-nonsense mood and has began distancing itself from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which it helped to install in power.

The paper says the first sign of trouble came when the CPP took a rather strong position against the general tenor of the 2001 budget and the adoption of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC).

Over the last three weeks, the CPP has also strongly opposed the government's decision to privatize water and electricity supply and the attempt by Parliament to outlaw solidarity strikes.

The CPP has also urged the NPP to stick to its election promises of abolishing the "Cash and carry" system, re- introducing subsidies on agricultural inputs and expanding access to education at all levels.

In a statement signed by its national chairman, Dr Abubakar Al- Hassan, the CPP said that the conditions attached to the HIPC initiative are inconsistent with the electoral promises made by the NPP.

The CPP listed some of the conditions as, the withdrawal of subsidies on social services such as education and health, the accelerated privatisation of State enterprises including Ghana Water Company and the Electricity Company of Ghana.