Which CPP Ideology, Paa Kwesi?

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

In the wake of the deadlocked just-ended Ghanaian presidential election, the flagbearer of the rump-Convention People’s Party (CPP) was reported to be claiming that he could only throw his electoral support behind either major two political parties that amply demonstrates its willingness to buy hook, line and sinker into the CPP’s political ideology (see “Nduom Sets Conditions for Run-Off” Modernghana.com 12/11/08).

If the preceding, as reported by Mr. Isaac Essel, of Joy-Fm/Online, accurately reflects the position of Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, then the CPP flagbearer, indeed, has a tough sell. For while it is true that his percentage of the popular votes could put Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), in the winner’s slot of 50% plus one votes, should the CPP presidential candidate decide to commit his share of the votes to his hometown boy and flagbearer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), such support, unless it is also backed by the People’s National Convention’s Dr. Edward N. Mahama, who garnered just under 1% to Dr. Nduom’s 1.4%, is highly unlikely to mean much. And if experience is any reliable guide, then it stands to reason that the failure of the CPP to broker an honest merger agreement with the PNC, as was bitterly complained about by Dr. Mahama in the run-up to Election 2008, implies the high unlikelihood of any such significant support materializing. And what is even more remarkable is the fact that this is not the very first time that both Nkrumah-leaning political parties have failed to agree on a synergistic merger arrangement.

It thus comes as quite curious for Dr. Nduom and his CPP henchmen and women to be anticipating that either the ruling New Patriotic Party or the National Democratic Congress would fully and expediently buy into an as yet undefined CPP ideology in order to clinch the electoral support of the latter. In any case, it would virtually be tantamount to entering into a Faustian pact whereby the party with the least, in terms of electoral votes or strength, to contribute also becomes the controlling shareholder or managing partner in such coalition.

Still, the significant question to ask is: precisely what is this “CPP political ideology” that Dr. Nduom is talking about? And the answer from JoyOnline’s Mr. Essel appears in the following quote from his article: “What I am saying to them [i.e. NPP and NDC] is that here is my Bible, my ten-point agenda for change you can feel in your pocket, that is one. I [also] want an inclusive society; demonstrate to me from now by your speech, by your conduct, by the advert that you start and all those things that you are not going to raise the specter of some people are evil.”

Well, it goes without saying that the foregoing observations and remarks point far more strikingly at the traditionally divisive political record of the CPP itself (a.k.a. THE PARTY) under its megalomaniacal and dictatorial patriarch, Life-President Kwame Nkrumah. For instance, if you were not a registered and card-carrying member of the CPP-controlled Ghana Farmers’ Council (Appiah-Danquah’s group) under the CPP regime, chances were great that your cocoa farm or plantation would be summarily denied critical extension services. You were also likely to have your healthy cocoa trees cut down in the dubious name of stanching the spread of either black-pod disease or swollen shoot. Then also, had he closely and dispassionately observed the political activities of the so-called National Democratic Congress, such as criminally and summarily demolishing the hotel and other commercial buildings of either political opponents or defectors, Paa Kwesi would properly have tailored his message to suit the appropriate channels and audiences.

And here, we must also make bold to remind the rump-CPP flagbearer that quite recently, in the run-up to Election 2008, when Mr. Sekou Nkrumah, son of the founding patriarch of the CPP, asserted that the NDC best reflected the ideals of Ghana’s first premier, Dr. Nduom was swift in his condemnation of Mr. Sekou Nkrumah. And as we vividly recall, the former Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem (KEEA) CPP Member of Parliament riposted that the younger Mr. Nkrumah did not appear to fully appreciate what he was talking about. Of course, the understated reason for Paa Kwesi’s tirade hinted at the unprecedented NDC history of state-sponsored terrorism, particularly on the part of such shady personalities as Messrs. Rawlings, the Tsikatas and Atta-Mills, as well as the uncanny and inimitable “shit-bombing” expertise of Mr. John Mahama.

But that the NPP maintains an enviably unparalleled record by way of ideological collaboration for the greater good of Ghana is pretty much epitomized by the very means by which Paa Kwesi won his first KEEA parliamentary election and seat, as well as subsequent ones. He may also do himself a lot of good by recalling the tragic narrative of ex-Vice President Ekow Nkensen-Arkaah, and also the violent overthrow of the democratically elected CPP-leaning government of Dr. Hilla Limann’s People’s National Party (PNP), whose Vice-President, Dr. DeGraft Johnson, was also Paa Kwesi’s clansman.

But, of course, it is the democratic right of Paa Kwesi to fanatically and nepotistically opt to play with EBUSUA(KUW) DWARFS, while the rest of his NPP allies and teammates of yesteryear inclusively play for the BLACK STARS.

*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D., is Associate Professor of English, Journalism and Creative Writing at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City. He is the author of 18 books, including “Ghanaian Politics Today” (Atumpan Publications/lulu.com, 2008) and “Dr. J. B. Danquah: Architect of Modern Ghana” (iUniverse.com, 2005). E-mail: [email protected]. ###