General News of Friday, 10 January 2003

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"Kumi Preko" II : CPP Calls Civil Disobedience

The Convention People’s Party says it will soon embark on a series of demonstrations to demand better governance from the Kufuor administration. The party says the NPP government lacks an understanding of the economic problems and social challenges confronting the country.

Speaking to journalists in Accra today to mark the commemoration of the party’s Positive Action Day, CPP Chairman, Dr Abubakr Al-Hassan said the NPP government has failed Ghanaians. He said the CPP will mobilize Ghanaians to exercise their constitutional and democratic rights to reject and resist what he describes as policies that impose hardships on the people.

Dr. Al-Hassan is calling on people to embark on protest marches and strikes to direct government to respond to the needs of the people. “Under the leadership of the NPP, we have remained fixated on preserving the economic policy framework promoted by Western powers and their agencies, the World Bank and IMF even though our experience demonstrates that it is these policies that have run down our productive capacity and blocked economic integration… While new fortunes are being made by those with access to power, unemployment levels have increased and ordinary people’s access to basic needs and services – food, shelter, education, health care have continued to decline rapidly.”

The CPP says “after two years of a generous honeymoon, it is time to call a spade a spade: the NPP programme has failed. The Kufuor administration is not capable of leading Ghana out of this crisis. It fundamentally lacks an understanding of our economic and social realities.”

Dr. Al-Hassan says the NPP government has surrendered the economy to foreign interests, aiding the recolonisation of the country. He called on members and sympathizers of the CPP to resist all attempts by the government to detract them from the course of the party.