Letter from the President: CPP rising?

Countrymen and women, loyalists and opponents, recent developments within the CPP (aka Confused People’s Party) have gladdened my heart so. Some of the nation’s brightest are vying for the party’s presidential slot and I find that to be very refreshing indeed. It’s quite a remarkable break from the sorry lot from which Comfort Aggudey was chosen to lead the party into the last presidential elections. I wonder why all these smart guys who are now showing their faces sat down with their hands in their ‘damarifa’ and allowed Comfort Aggudey to be elected as the party’s flagbearer. Aggudey’s candidature, surely, made us all believe that the CPP was not a serious party.

But let bygones be bygones and let’s look into the future. As I said, I am happy with what I am seeing in the CPP now. I am especially glad that Paa Kwesi wants to run for the presidency on the ticket of the party. And I am very delighted that Paa Kwesi will not get the party’s ticket on a silver platter. He will be facing stiff competition from the likes of Asoka (aka Dead Man’s Doctor) and Shining Bright (one of the most formidable litigants I know in Sikaman). These are fine, intelligent, forward-looking gentlemen whose ‘modesty’, in refusing (or failing) to take up front row positions in the party has done the Nkrumahist family a lot of harm.

But they have come to their senses (if I may use that expression) and I hope that what they are doing now will give us what we’ve all been yearning for – a third political force to break the democratically unhealthy duopoly of the NDC and NPP. Don’t get me wrong. I am an NPP man and I don’t like the NDC. Neither do I like the CPP. Therefore, I am by no means campaigning for the CPP. All I am saying is that as a Sikaman citizen, I feel what the people feel. I know that, sometimes, people get so tired of the NDC/NPP politics and wish that someone else will take over the reins of power. But they cast their eyes around and they don’t see any good alternative because the CPP has always been a disorganised bunch of politicians who seem more interested in taking too much credit for what their forebears achieved than in spelling out coherent, workable solutions to the challenges that confront our nation now.

The lack of a third force, as I’ve always said, does not auger well for the growth of our democracy. And since I am a democrat at heart, I am delighted that at long last we are seeing signs that the CPP is getting serious.

The decision by the likes of Asoka and Paa Kwesi (whom I recently sacked from my government, by the way) to contest for the party’s presidential slot is a good start in what I see to be the rebirth of the CPP. Surely, they are not going to win the elections in 2008 – the party is too disorganised to cause a political upset in the next 12 months. But whoever is elected as presidential candidate and party chairman in the next few weeks should work hard and campaign in every nook and cranny of the country to improve the CPP’s appeal to the masses. A special focus on getting young people to join the party should be top on their agenda. Since we decided to adopt democratic rule in 1992, most people have perceived the CPP to be a party of ‘colo’ people. And young people do not like to be associated with ‘colo’ people who, as they say, “do not know what time it is.” Both Paa Kwesi and Asoka are not that old and whoever wins the presidential slot, they should both be able to draw the youth into the party.

At its upcoming congress, it is imperative for the CPP to elect a pro-active national executive made up of intelligent, forward-looking men and women who are capable of building the party’s structures to enable it take its rightful place in Sikaman’s body politick. The current CPP executive, sad to say, is a bunch of old hogs who seem to know next to nothing about fund raising, party organisation, lobbying and campaigning. What they do best is issuing press releases and organising sorry press conferences to comment on national issues. Every serious politician knows that there is a lot more to running a party than commenting on national issues. As if being idle and reactive has not damaged the party enough, the current CPP leadership has taken great delight in fomenting discord in the party. All those silly disputes with the party’s few representatives in parliament were totally uncalled for. The next CPP leadership should be one that unites the party and builds its structures right from the electoral area to the national level.

One of the things I’ve also observed about the CPP is that it is a poor party with quite a lot of rich men and women. It’s true that they do not have access to any kickbacks or anything of the sort. But there are quite a lot of prosperous people within the party and I wonder why the party is so broke that it cannot even pay its general secretary. Something is definitely wrong. Whatever it is, I hope that the resurgence I see in the party now will resolve it. Rebuilding and re-branding the CPP should bring in more (rich, well-connected) members, which should translate into more money for the party. I believe that there are many people out there who claim to be CPP supporters but are reluctant to give generously because they fear they will not have their monies worth in a disorganised (some say, confused) party.

Finally, let me say that the CPP needs to take the lead role in the effort to bring the so-called Nkrumaist parties back together. I know some negotiations have been going on, especially with the PNC. But no real progress has been made because neither side is willing to make any compromises. If only the two sides will see eye to eye, we can definitely say that we are seeing a third force emerging. For now, though, all I can say is that I am impressed with what is happening within the CPP and if they go the extra mile to do some of the things I’ve suggested, the party and the nation will be happy. And who knows, by 2016 we might have a CPP president. What a refreshing change that would be!

Excellently yours,
J. A. Fukuor
(fukuor@gmail.com)