GT-Vodafone debate was shameful — Nduom

The flag bearer of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has described the behaviour of the Members of Parliament (MPs) during last Thursday’s debate on the sale of 70 per cent of Ghana Telecom( GT) to Vodafone as “shameful”.
He said the two main political parties - New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) - engaged in the debate not on the merit or demerit of the sale but “which of the two has been the best or worse seller of GT”.
This was in apparent reference to the 30 per cent sale of GT by the NDC prior to 2000 and the current sale of 70 per cent sale by the NPP.
Briefing the media in Accra yesterday, Dr Nduom said even those who spoke during the debate were selected on both sides, while the shouting matches were orchestrated.
Dr Nduom walked out during the debate and voting, however his two CPP colleagues, Mr Freddie Blay, MP for Ellembele, and Mr Kojo Armah, MP for Evalue-Gwira, voted in favour of the sale.
According to him it was not possible to participate in any meaningful debate, therefore “I did not want to be part of what to me was a shameful, calculated and orchestrated activity. So, I left the chamber to wait outside until the shouting and voting were over.”
He cautioned the management of Vodafone to “beware” because when the CPP came to power it would “review the whole arrangement to ensure the protection of Ghana’s interest” just like how the NPP administration reviewed the Telekom Malaysia deal signed during the NDC regime.
Dr Nduom said based on the ground work done by the party, there was every indication that the forthcoming December 7 election would be one of which three political parties -CPP, NPP and NDC- would get past the 30 per cent mark and qualify for the second round of voting.
“Ghanaians will decide which two political parties will get the opportunity to contest in the runoff”, he said, and confidently added that with the positive response accorded the party’s campaign “the CPP will be one of the two political parties left standing when the votes are cast and counted after December 7.”
He wondered why some media houses and politically biased institutes after claiming to have conducted opinion polls painted the picture as if there were only two political parties in the country.
Dr Nduom said unfortunately and mistakenly, these biased polls had been intended to limit the choice of the voters in the 2008 elections on the basis of the result of the 2004 elections. “This is wrong and a stop must be put to it. This year’s election is not a two horse race between the NPP and the NDC .
He assured Ghanaians that the CPP could move from the three seats in parliament and one per cent of the presidential votes in 2004 to a resounding victory.
He said the party now had popular, resourceful and quality parliamentary candidates and an active constituency executive who had registered new members for the CPP, and were campaigning vigorously to complement his efforts.
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