CPP will not join another party for Election 2008 - Nylander

Accra, Feb. 21, GNA - The Convention People's Party (CPP) on Thursday inaugurated a 17-member campaign team for Election 2008 and beyond with a declaration that it has no intention to join any party for the elections.

Mr. Ladi Nylander, National Chairman, said the CPP would, however, welcome any party that wanted to join it. "We are going as an independent party to win the 2008 elections," he said.

The campaign team would work in that capacity for the next four years until the party goes to congress again. However, its immediate concern would be to wrest power in this year's elections. The campaign team, under the co-chairmanship of Mr Eric Benyarko and Mr Kobina Greenstreet, includes all the other presidential aspirants during the last congress, namely, Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Mr. Bright Oblitei Akwetey, Dr. Kwaku Safo and Dr. F. W. A. Akuffo. Mr. George Aggudey's name was, however, missing.

Others members of the team are Mr. Kwaw Ansah, Dr. Al-Hassan Abubakar, Ms Susan Adu-Amankwa, Ms Christina Baidoo, Ms Kate Kankan, Mr Kosi Dedey, Mr Appiah Amankwah, Mr Ekow Duncan, Nana Dumfeh, Mr Abu Forgor and Mr Asare Bediako.

The occasion was also used to introduce 11 spokespersons of the party on various issues of national concern. Mr Nylander said since the last congress that elected Dr Paa Kwesi Ndoum as flag bearer of the party, all efforts to reach Mr Aggudey and bring him on board to move the party forward had proved futile. "I have tried to reach him and several other party functionaries and members have also tried to reach him. He is still a member of the party as far as we are concerned; we do not have any problem with him but he seems to have a problem with the party," he said. Mr Nylander said Aggudey was a private businessman and advised journalists to refer to him in that capacity instead of calling him former CPP presidential aspirant.

"That reference evokes some negative connotations and we are not comfortable with that," he said. Dr Ndoum told the Ghana News Agency that whereas it was good to have all the former aspirants on board the campaign team, it was also expedient to work with people who were available and had a common interest. He noted that Mr Aggudey has since congress not demonstrated to the party that he is ready to play any part in the party's progress at this point in time. "We have made calls to him but he simply does not pick calls from his CPP colleagues."