...as Kwabena Agepong defends 1966 coup
Accra, March 11, GNA - The Convention People's Party (CPP) on Saturday said no coup d'etat is justifiable; "forceful overthrown of any democratically elected government is not acceptable under any condition in the past, present or the future."

He said: "overthrow of Dr Nkrumah's regime by Zionist Forces and their local collaborator had been the bane of Ghana's developmental agenda, which also derailed comprehensive programmes embarked upon by the government for the attainment of economic independence, this disservice to the nation can never be justified under any condition.

"Apart from Ghana, the military take-over had far-reaching consequences on both political, economic and national integration of the continent," Dr. Edmund N. Delle CPP Chairman stated at Adenta, during a meeting with Polling Station executives of the party on Friday.

He described Mr. Kwebena Agyei Agyapong, Press Secretary to President John Agyekum Kufuor's justification of the 1966 Coup as "infantile talk of ignorance and must be discarded outright."

Dr Delle said military adventurism and disruption of the process of democratisation had retarded the nations development, "at 49 years were are still depending on foreign donor support to strengthen national budget, face with poor infrastructure, breakdown of factories that the Dr Nkrumah's regime established and above all decent people were maltreated and dehumanised and for any right thinking Ghanaian to justify this act is committing democratic suicide."

The CPP Chairman and Leader urged Ghanaians to abhor Coups and prepare to defend the Constitution, irrespective of which political tradition is in power, "Politicians should not justify and jubilate because when the military overthrows their opponent in power, such attitude offers a fertile ground for continuous military interventions in body politics of a country".

Mr. Agyapong was reported by a section of the media to have said, "anybody who refers to 24 February 1966 as a day of shame is advertising his ignorance of Ghana's political history, in that the dynamics of the internal political situation at the time called for that military intervention."

According to Mr. Agyapong, prior to the overthrow of Dr Nkrumah, Ghana's first President, there was a political situation where the president had declared a one party state and himself as the life President of Ghana, as a result of which he adopted a policy of vendetta and vindictiveness against his political opponents.

Mr. Agyapong is quoted to have said: "In order to clamp down on his political opponents and cow them into submission, Dr Nkrumah manipulated Parliament to enact the oppressive Preventive Detention Act, which was used to incarcerate anybody perceived to be against his authority and dictatorial regime.

"This, I expected the Socialist Forum and their newly found allies to acknowledge instead of trying successfully to find fault with the Danquah/Busia tradition at the time."

Dr Delle whose visit was to launch a CPP mass mobilization drive from the polling stations through the Constituencies and to national level of the party urged CPP activists to defend the legacy of Dr Nkrumah and the tenets of multi-party democracy.

He encouraged the formation of strong polling station executives to serve as a platform for mobilization.

Dr Delle, who is the President of RABITO Clinics called on the youth to be selfless, modest and prepare to sacrifice their lives and resources to build Ghana into a prosperous nation.

He said the future of Ghana depended more on the youth and challenged them to bring their resources to bear on the country's quest for speedy development.

He debunked the notion that, the CPP was made up of old men and women and said the party had faith and believed in the capabilities of the Ghanaian youth and urged them to learn hard to acquire knowledge that would enable them to contribute meaningfully to nation building. Dr. Delle stated that, the CPP would continue to support and encourage indigenous entrepreneurship in the country and urged Ghanaians to be proud of their own indigenous products to enable the local industries to grow and expand.

He deplored the confrontational postures being exhibited by activists of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and said the CPP was a party of peace and would not engage in any unnecessary confrontation that could derail the country's democratic process.

Dr Delle urged members of the party to be disciplined, law abiding and work hard to market the ideals and ideas of the founder of the party, to enable the party to win the 2008 elections. Mr. Kofi Attoh, Greater Accra Secretary of the party said CPP was the only party in the country that had the tools and knowhow to manage and save the country from poverty.

He urged members of the party to educate the electorate to embrace the ideals of the CPP, which has the policy of wealth creation, to enable the party win the next general elections.

The Constituency Chairman and Secretary, Mr. Dennis Gymah and Mr. Chris Saugbey respectively commended the National Chairman for the visit, which, according to them would fuel party activists in the constituency to work hard.

Other members of the team, which also visited Ododdiodoo, include Mr. Oteng Anane, and Mr. Daniel Quartey National Youth Organiser and Deputy National Youth Organsier respectively.