Mr Divine Nkrumah, an ardent youth activist of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) has officially launched a forty page book entitled ‘Shackles of CPP.’
According to the author of the book, the abysmal performance of the CPP motivated him to delve critically into what had been the cause of the bane of the CPP in general elections.
Mr Nkrumah said this when he was addressing journalists at the official launch of the book in Accra.
He indicated that the question of poor performance of the CPP has been his sphere of interest over the past few months after the 2008 elections.
Mr Divine Nkrumah, Author of ‘Shackles of CPP’ addressing the press conference
“I have had countless number of people on the topic and have researched broadly; I have lived within, observed and experienced the poor performance; all in an attempt to answer this question:” why is CPP not thriving on the Ghanaian political platform? The end result is this little book you are seeing here,” he told journalists.
He lamented that he still has not recovered from the shock of the results of Ghana’s general elections, when the CPP performed so badly.
“In fact, the performance by CPP in the 2008 general election was worse than ever, because it was so unexpected,” he stated.
He disclosed that the content of the book seeks to clearly spell out the basic predicaments surrounding the CPP party and the factors contributing to the poor performance by CPP in the 2008 elections.
Mr Nkrumah added that the awful performance of the CPP in the 2008 general elections could be attributed to a wide range of factors.
“The CPP which contested the 2008 general elections had in its set-up some very dominant forces, prominent amongst them was the left and right elements,” he pointed out.
He went on to say that there was a clash of ideologies which reflected on the choice of direction the party must take if it were to make any significant headway.
“This became more evident after the party’s congress to elect the flag bearer and other executives of the party. Some members of the party who failed in their bid to be elected or other persons whom they preferred for certain positions in the party, resorted to activities that tended to derail the credibility of the party as a formidable one, capable of winning the elections,” he emphasized.
Mr Nkrumah further observed that another factor that accounted for the CPP’s poor performance was the unrealistic, unjustifiable and untimely charges leveled against the party’s flag bearer, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom by some members of the party which to a very large extent undermined the credibility of Dr. Nduom.
“Some few national executives went a step further to pull off several antics during the electioneering era with the express purpose of impeding Dr Nduom’s presidential bid.
On the other hand, Dr. Nduom’s inability to disapprove or deny the charges as raised against him, left bad impressions on the minds of people and led some individuals including members of his party to doubt the confidence supposed in him as a flag bearer and subsequently if his successful election as a president,” he maintained.
He seized the opportunity to call on the members of the CPP to bury their differences to put the party in good shape as the 2012 elections draw nearer.
