Poor Nduom

*POOR DR NDUOM*

By Duke Tagoe

When Dr Kwesi Nduom burst on to the political scene in the mid-1990s, he was celebrated as a bright star which could even rise hopefully to become President of Ghana in 2001 on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).

He was quietly and deliberately introduced to some of the elders of the CPP tradition and soon word was out that a young flamboyant and rich man was around to be enthroned as President.

The emphasis in all the Nduom maneuvering was that he had plenty of cash. Nobody wanted to find out how he had come by the cash. All that mattered was that he had cash to be chopped and to be used.

Nduom’s promoters also dwelt on the fact that his father had been an instructor of the Ghana Young Pioneer Movement set up by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah. They created the impression that one was bound to share the political and ideological position of his or her parents.

Some CPP elders who were approached to help make the Nduom dream come true, suggested that he had to start from the scratch and the young man gleefully accepted the suggestion.

He contested and won an Assembly seat somewhere in Elmina but he made the mistake of his life by attempting to jump from Assemblyman to President.

When nominations opened for the Presidential candidature of the Convention’s People’s Party in 1999, Dr Nduom went for the nomination forms. He paid his nomination fee but he could not complete the nomination forms.

He later withdrew from the presidential race and threatened to drag his party to court if his nomination fee was not refunded.

Nduom became a Parliamentary candidate of the CPP and lost but somehow he caught the eye of President Kufuor and got appointed as a Minister.

There were rumours of struggles for turf between him and Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo, the Minister of Finance and between him and Mr. J.H Mensah, Senior Minister.

At one stage, president Kufuor was rumoured to have invited Nduom and Mr. Maafo to his hotel room in Paris to try and patch up their differences.

While these happenings were ongoing, his own party was divided over his appointment. There were those who argued that CPP men should deliberately look for and take appointment in the NPP Government and those who said that all party faithful ought to refuse to take up appointments in the Kufuor administration.

Nduom was the Chairman of the organizational committee and also a member of the Central Committee of the CPP at this stage. There was so much controversy over his holding of these two positions because some party members felt that he could not remain loyal to the CPP whiles serving in the Kufuor administration.

Eventually, Nduom had to resign as Chairman of the Organizational Committee and therefore also as a member of the Central Committee.

The most controversial thing that Nduom did was to join others to form what became known as the Parliamentary Action Group (PAG).

Initial statements made by some members of the group made it clear that it was more concerned about campaigning for a second term victory for the Kufuor presidency in exchange for help for the CPP to win a few parliamentary seats.

The PAG argued strongly that the CPP should not field a presidential candidate for the 2004 elections and should negotiate for the NPP support in a few constituencies.

To be continued.

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