The 2008 Presidential Candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, has dropped a hint of his intention to quit the party and contest the 2012 presidential election on a different platform.
To prepare the grounds for his next move, Dr Nduom has urged men and women who share in his aspirations to help him put together presidential and parliamentary campaign teams, other than the CPP, in the 10 regions and 230 constituencies for the 2012 elections.
Addressing some media houses on Saturday, the head of Dr Nduom's communication team, Mr Richmond Lamptey, said: “Dr Nduom has decided that it is time for collective action to create a new political order that is national in character and one which is different from what exist today.”
As the first sign of breaking his cord from the CPP, some people from the Nduom campaign team were seen, just after the announcement, removing all the CPP flags on the road that leads to Dr Nduom’s Coconut Groove Hotel.
Another point that lends credence to the fact that Dr Nduom is leaving the CPP is part of the statement which reads that: “Secondly, he [Dr Nduom] holds the view that one does not need to have an affiliated seat in parliament to become President.”
“Dr Nduom wants to encourage those who want to go to parliament in 2013 and are prepared to work and make sacrifices to get there to step forward. He also wants those who want to support and campaign for him to become president in 2013 to identify themselves and organise to work,” the statement added.
Mr Lamptey quoted the Youth for Nduom 2012, a youth group that supports Dr Nduom, which stated on December 5, 2011, that “considering the fact that 98 per cent of the electorate had in the past three elections not voted for CPP, it is clear that there is a lot of work to be done outside CPP, while urgent steps are taken to retain those who voted for Dr Nduom in 2008.”
Dr Nduom recently announced his decision to contest for the CPP presidential slot for the second time and came under a barrage of criticism for allegedly whipping up sentiments among some members of the party across the country to call for an early congress, with a threat to organise an National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to take that decision.
This infuriated Chairman of the party, Ms Samia Yaaba Nkrumah, who threatened to expel Dr Nduom from the party if he continued what she described as “Dr Nduom’s “nonsense.” This sparked accusations and counter accusations from leading members of the party.
The General Secretary of the CPP, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, also pointed accusing fingers at Dr Nduom as the main cause of the dissonance in the party, and filed a writ at the Accra High Court to declare the intended NEC meeting null and void.
However, before the court could hear the case, the aggrieved members had rescinded their decision because the party had set a date for the presidential primaries.
Reading the press statement, Mr Lamptey said Dr Nduom was expected to announce the vehicle he would use for the 2012 elections before the end of this year.
He explained that what Dr Nduom was calling for must have a different character—less bureaucratic and more field and action oriented–from what had typically been the case in Ghana in the Fourth Republic.
