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Politics of Tuesday, 4 January 2011

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CPP Leaders Must Change Their Attitudes — CPP Youths Urge

Spokesperson: Divine Nkrumah
The Coordinator
Tel: 0277166579 / 0209285062
Email: pipiromedia@gmail.com

Former heads of TESCHART, a youth wing of the Convention People’s Party- CPP, in a new-year resolution statement has stated that 2011 has just begun, noting that very soon the country will be ushered into the electioneering season where the various political parties will be garnering for votes.
This was stated in a two-page resolution statement issued by FOTHAT, an umbrella group of TESCHART, on January 3, 2011 and signed by its spokesperson, Mr. Divine Nkrumah.
In the statement, FOTHAT members asked the leadership of the party to make new-year resolutions to address critical issues bedeviling the CPP.
The party’s new year resolution, according to the statement, must depict true commitment by executives and members to make reforms and positive changes that would generally be interpreted as advantageous.
“These resolutions must not just be made for the sake of it but to be fulfilled. We must collectively find alternatives to the practices that we want to change, and make them part of our resolution plan,” the statement indicated.
However, Mr. Nkrumah described the development where so-called top-notch CPP members sit on the fence and undermine the unity in the party as regrettable and most unfortunate.
It further bemoaned the situation where prominent CPP members are not seen to be openly supporting the course of the party but involved in underground and open moves to thwart efforts at building a vibrant force.
“In Ghana today, we have a lot of prominent people who claim to be CPP members but their direct or indirect contribution to the party is very negligible. What they are best known for doing, is to remain outside the box and criticize what others do,” Mr. Nkrumah bemoaned.

Again, FOTHAT could not fathom why people who prided themselves as belonging to the Red Cockerel family but yet were found missing in action when it comes to the struggle of changing the fortunes of the CPP.
“Why are they refusing to become part of the struggle to change the face of CPP if they feel the current order is bad? Where is their commitment to the Nkrumaism they admit?, the statement angrily questioned.
To this end, Mr. Nkrumah challenged such characters/elements “to come out clearly and establish their position.”
He went on to stress that these so-called CPP members cannot continue to remain at the centre and still cause unnecessary problems in the party.
“…They must make their intentions known and establish whether they are for the left or for the right. Their stands are very dangerous to our course. Their declarations sometimes make undecided voters doubt the credibility of the party as a formidable one capable of winning power. Not that we hate them, but we dislike intensely their attitudes,” FOTHAT strongly warned.
In the firm opinion of Mr. Nkrumah, developments unfolding in the party at both the national and the regional level are nothing short than “a complete waste of time”.
“We will have to take a running jump, if we want to become part of the mainstream of Ghana’s politics,” stressed FOTHAT.
This, the group explained, will not just happen, but will require “a new approach by our leaders to understand the strategic importance of unity and cohesion that has the tendency to provide sufficient sense of urgency and commitment to the speedy transformation of the CPP.
…Ambition and relationships can be considered as important factors in determining the strength of the union between members. But ultimately, it is when ambition of individuals takes priority over the party’s agenda without any proper discipline of understanding and making compromises.”
The statement categorically stated: “This has been one of the contributable factors to the dwindling image of the CPP.”
“We believe that the time has come for us the youth to take positive steps to resist the ambitions of party executives and leading members whose utterances, egoistic postures and behaviours have subjected the party to internal confusion and public ridicule,” affirmed the statement.
In this regard, the CPP youth cautioned party members, especially the executives, “to be wary of the fact that if they refuse to take urgent steps to solve this canker, the canker itself would take steps to uproot them from the party”
“At this time when pragmatism and functionalism have become the indispensable infrastructure to modern politics, any political party showing unconcern to the study is only relinquishing its right to become a credible party,” it warned.
Against this background, the CPP advised party members with ambitions to contest in the upcoming congress to demonstrate what “he/she has done in his/her own backyard”.
…They must embark on serious organizational work within their respective constituencies to make the CPP attractive before dreaming of taking up positions at the national level. They must walk the talk and stop professing what they are not,” FOTAHT advised.
They therefore urged the leadership of the party “to use this year as an index to do something better for the party and stop being petty loquacious without any substance of concrete accomplishments.”
The group also asserted that, these people who know themselves must learn to refine their characters and join the rebuilding machinery with one mind to rebuild the party or if they cannot comply, they should quit the CPP and leave the party alone.

Signed:
Ellis Amelenmah - University of Cape Coast
Fataw Fuseini - KNUST
Bernard Acheampong - Takoradi Polytechnic
Fredrick Opoku - Accra Polytechnic
Tettevi Eyram - University of Mines and Technology
Jeremiah Salifu - Wisconsin University
George Mensah - Ghana Institute of Journalism
Leslie Plahar - University of Ghana
Emmanuel Opoku - Cape Coast Polytechnic
Kenneth Barnes - University of Education, Winneba