[ 2016-02-07 ]

The CPP I want to see - Samia Nkrumah
I returned home in 2008 to enter active politics
and make a contribution to our country’s
development by joining forces with others to
revive Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for
Ghana. There was only one political force that
could embrace this mission, the Convention
People’s Party (CPP).

Over the last few weeks a campaign of vilification
and denigration has rained over my head from
different quarters, all geared to dampen my
popularity and misconstrue my mission in the eyes
of the Ghanaian public. This comes as no surprise
because when you dare to challenge a system, you
will be hounded in the process. Little wonder
therefore that recent utterances attributed to
social commentators like Ben Ephson and Kwesi
Pratt, seemingly sympathisers to the CPP, have
been harsh and condemning.

“Nkrumah is for the past”; “CPP is not for
Nkrumah’s children”. Or, a host of negative
propaganda from other detractors: “Samia is
divisive”; “I really like Samia Nkrumah as a
person but I don’t think she’s a
politician”. This latest jab conveniently
ignores the fact that I have had the privilege of
serving my Party and country as an MP and National
Chairperson of a political party.

Today, I am taking steps to go and contest the
Jomoro Parliamentary seat once again. By this
decision, I am fulfilling an earlier promise to
the CPP in the district that I shall be back
either as a candidate or actively campaigning for
the candidate of our choice as a Party to continue
our good work there.
Coincidentally, these developments are happening
in the 50th anniversary of the illegal overthrow
of Ghana’s democratically-elected government
under the leadership of Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah and
the CPP.

I recall remarks that appeared in the declassified
documents from CIA folders narrating the story of
the plot to execute the 1966 overthrow of
Nkrumah’s government. “Although Nkrumah’s
leftward progress cannot be checked or reversed,
it could be slowed down by a well conceived and
executed action programme.”
“Intensive efforts should be made through
psychological warfare and other means to diminish
support for Nkrumah within Ghana and nurture
conviction amongst the Ghanaian people that their
country’s welfare and independence necessitate
his removal.”

The long-standing impact of the vilification of
Kwame Nkrumah after the overthrow had taken deep
root in the psyche of the Ghanaian despite the
enduring evidence of all the good works of the CPP
government of the First Republic. Nkrumah’s
vindication is not yet total and remains dampened
by those unable to understand his mission and
vision. Unfortunately, some of those very people
are deep within our Party. “Nkrumah is dead and
gone,” is a refrain I’ve heard repeatedly in
the corridors of the CPP Headquarters at Asylum
Down.

There appears to be a struggle within the CPP
today between those who want to abandon
Nkrumah’s influence, and those who seek to
revive his ideals and policies adapting them to
today’s circumstances. The former would confer a
fake identity on the CPP that will make it
difficult to differentiate between our Party from
other political parties in terms of our core
values and ideology.

The fear of emulating Nkrumah is manifested in the
lack of clarity on issues of national concern that
impact negatively on the average Ghanaian: IMF
austerity package; GMOs, inimical trade agreements
EPAs, steady de-industrialisation, the shrinking
role of the State in production, and the loud
silence over the question of ownership and control
by Ghanaians over our natural and national
resources. And the list goes on.

Only a sustained ideological educational programme
for all CPP members (and all Ghanaians) would
bring clarity and understanding and ultimately
restore Nkrumah’s vision to transform Ghana into
a powerful and productive society. We cannot
forget that Nkrumah’s independence mission was
aimed at realising the dignity of the Ghanaian,
the African and the whole Black race so we can
confidently say wherever we find ourselves that,
yes, we can fight our own battles and can manage
our own affairs effectively.

Understanding this noble and patriotic task will
enable the CPP to courageously reject and oppose
policies and agreements that preserve our economy
as a market for foreign manufactured products and
a source of raw material to support
industrialisation elsewhere. This understanding
will inspire us to revise and present to Ghana the
7-Year Development Plan with its focus on building
up a manufacturing capacity based on developing
our natural resources.

The industrialization drive of the 1960s remains
valid for Ghana today. The development history of
recent giants like China, India, South Korea and
Brazil, reveals that very few countries have been
successful without industrializing and increasing
their manufacturing capacities.

The CPP must champion industrialisation with a
people-centred approach, respecting our
environment and harmonising with it. We must be at
the forefront resisting exploitation and
dependency that comes under the pretext of
innovation and science. We must continue to reject
genetically-modified seeds and crops and insist on
banning the cultivation, production and
distribution of GMOs in Ghana. The CPP must lead
in investing in organic farming and protect the
Ghanaian farmer by insisting on including
anti-monopoly provisions within our seed laws.

The CPP must lead in the struggle for Ghanaians to
own and control all natural resources and national
assets. We must continue to reject the meagre
percentage of shares and royalties in mining and
oil production and work to renegotiate all natural
resource agreements (mining, oil and gas) to
ensure maximum benefit for Ghanaians.

If we try and de-link today’s CPP from
Nkrumah’s revolutionary thought and policies
then what we hope to offer Ghanaians will be a
very superficial and unsustainable programme. Our
loyalty to Nkrumah’s vision is a pre-condition
for our progress and eventual victory.

To champion a truly patriotic stance in defence of
the Ghanaian, the CPP must remain independent from
the influence of NDC and NPP, the structural
adjustment parties (SAPs) with their failed
economic and social policies.

The struggle for the independence of the Party has
been going on for some time. During my tenure as
Member of Parliament and subsequently as CPP
Chairman, I resisted any alliance with either of
those parties in order to give full expression to
our political beliefs. stand as one testimony of
the independent stance I represented. The report
demonstrated clearly that I earned the scorn of
the NDC when I refused to do business with them in
Parliament.

The mindless attacks on my person are aimed at the
radical people-centred Nkrumaist CPP that is ready
to challenge the status quo and maintain an
independent and sharp resistance to everything
that is detrimental to the interest of the
Ghanaian.

Our mission as followers of Kwame Nkrumah remains
incomplete and we have a sacred duty to return
Ghana to the development paradigm that delivered
development to the people of Ghana.

Samia Nkrumah

7th February 2016

Source - Samia Nkrumah

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