Accra, June 12, GNA - Today June 12 marks the 61st birthday of the Convention Peoples Party (CPP), a statement signed by the party's Communication Director, Mr William Dowokpor said the anniversary must spur on the Nkrumahiast's unity agenda.

It said the party salutes all party comrades, who "never say die" but continue in perseverance the struggle to complete the unfinished agenda of transforming Ghana into a developed country. The statement said even though the task confronting CPP today was huge, it could be surmountable indicating that with the right strategy, attitude, organization, comradeship and leadership, political book makers should be revising their estimates on third parties by December 2012. "Opportunities available for CPP to tap for electoral purposes and good governance in Ghana are more that meets the eye.

"For instance it remains an incontrovertible fact that since the overthrow of the CPP administration in 1966, no government has been able to deliver a fraction of the development that the CPP delivered to the good people of Ghana, between 1957 and 1966" it added. It said the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and NDC and NPP governments, who have governed this country for the past three decades, seemed to know how to attain power by hook or crook but have woefully failed to deliver on governance and leadership.

"In our recent democratic dispensation, majority of the people have opted for change at general elections but do not seem to get the real change. By the end of NDC (1) in the year 2000, the NPP then in opposition asked the people of Ghana to feel their pockets and vote accordingly. As majority of the people could not feel anything in their pockets they obliged and voted for change" it stated.

The statement said in 2008 towards the end of NPP administration, the NDC in opposition said President Kufuor's economic growth figures could not be felt in the pockets of the people. It added due to that Ghanaians voted for change because they could not feel the growth indicators in their pockets. The people listened and changed to NDC (2).

It further said the NDC (2) is in power and are touting good economic performance as in lowering inflation rates, yet people could not feel it in their pockets. "How many more times would Ghanaians allow NDC/NPP to take them for a ride?" the statement asked. "The evidence is clear: NDC/NPP the value is the same" It is a tale of disappointments, un-kept promises, unmet expectations, insensitivity, arrogance and mediocrity. Therein lies the opportunity to bring the real change that would in fact put money in the pockets of the people through industrialization and human resource development with a sense of urgency and determination" it added. It said many Ghanaians still wonder how the CPP failed to win the 2008 general elections when it was obvious during the electioneering campaign that the CPP candidate Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and his running mate Abu Sakara were over and above the other contestants in knowledge of issues and clarity of how to deliver a transformed Ghana.

The statement said financial constraint explained why the electorate did not go for competence and the real deal, therefore, current developments have been eye opening making the opportunities for CPP real. "The greatest challenge for the CPP is that it has been out of government for too long. But with the recent celebrations of Ghana at 50 and Nkrumah at 100, the youth of today can now believe that Nkrumah's ideology of self determination, social justice and Pan Africanism, when practicalized again would deliver the change Ghanaians need" it stated. The statement said the party was now focused on the task of reaching out to people through the mass media, house to house, street to street and door to door. 12 June 10