A leading member of the Convention People's Party (CPP) in the Brong Ahafo region has said the party's absence from power is the cause of the country's failure to achieve an appreciable level of development in spite of its abundant material and human resources.

Mr James Tawiah, regional chairman of the party said: "Since the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, all subsequent leaders have failed to strike the right developmental chord for the country because they were not privy or committed to his vision for the nation."

Speaking in an interview with the GNA at Sunyani in connection with the 41st Republican Day celebration, Mr Tawiah said Dr Nkrumah's vision for the country "is still relevant to its socio-economic development and CPP is the only party that can bring this into fruition".

Mr Kwadwo Afari-Boakye, a former regional chairman, also said as the party that led Ghana to independence, the CPP holds the key to country's success and until it comes back to power, its development would continue to stagnate.

He accused the NDC of the disintegrating the Nkrumaist family and urged those who left to return.

He urged Ghanaians to vote the CPP into power in the next elections so that they could enjoy the kind of visionary leadership that made the country a showpiece in Africa.

He said with all the splinter Nkrumaist groups and allied parties seriously making efforts to come together, the CPP is poised for a spectacular comeback in 2004.

Mr Afari-Boakye said the regional secretariat would soon embark upon an extensive tour of the constituencies to revive the party structures.