CPP COALITION, USA Baltimore-Washington Metropolis

PRESS STATEMENT

Sea Never Dry: Support CPP for Progressive Development

WOODBRIDGE, Virginia – (March 6, 2008) -- CPP COALITION, USA (Baltimore-Washington Metropolis) salutes the chiefs and people of Ghana (home and abroad) on the solemn occasion of the 51st Independence Day anniversary of the nation.

March 6, 1957, the day modern Ghana emerged as a social formation marked the beginning of the end of European colonization of the Gold Coast and the continent of Africa. End of colonial rule over Gold Coast ushered in the beginning of new freedom for the citizens and political independence for the sovereign nation to be called Ghana. Even though the British colonized the Gold Coast formally for 73 years (1874 to 1957), Britain’s imperial designs on the Gold Coast date to the signing on March 6, the Bond of 1844. This British imperial design was later to be formalized at the Berlin Conference. In November 1884, the imperial chancellor and architect of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck, convened a conference of 14 states (including the United States and Turkey) to settle the political partitioning of Africa. Of these fourteen nations, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference, controlling most of colonial Africa at the time. The Berlin Conference was Africa’s undoing in more ways than one. The colonial powers superimposed their domains on the African Continent.

Political independence for Ghana on March 6, 1957, was a culmination of one of the most significant social revolutions in the second half of the 20th century. Even though, the birth of Ghana with new political independence happened 50 years ago, the struggle for economic emancipation of the country is being rejoined. In this regard, the CPP COALITION calls upon Ghanaians everywhere to become aware of the past struggles for political emancipation of the country. This to equip them to drive ahead into the future at full throttle with renewed energy to participate in an agenda for progressive change for better economic and political conditions of our country.

Upon attainment of political independence, Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, the first head of government of Ghana, alerted the chiefs and people of the country about the amount of work ahead of them necessary for the reconstruction and development of the new nation. Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah put Ghanaians on notice about the sacrifices that they needed to make in pursuit of nation-building. He incited the citizens about the necessity to demonstrate to the world that Africans have the right and capacity to govern themselves.

Kwame Nkrumah reminded citizens of the new nation of Ghana about the need to guard the hard-won freedom and independence through advancement towards progressive development and economic prosperity of society. In earnest, the Nkrumah-led Convention People’s Party (CPP) government demonstrated to the world that the calls for economic prosperity and progressive development of Ghana were not to remain empty political rhetoric. Indeed, the CPP government formulated and executed public policies and programs that set the nascent Ghana on the road towards development.

As history has it, the good work of Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP government was cut short abruptly on February 24, 1966.

In the wee hours of February 24, 1966, a section of Ghana Army and some senior police officers executed a military coup d’etat that ousted Kwame Nkrumah and the CPP government from office.

Circumstances surrounding demise of the Nkrumah regime somersaulted the conditions for laying a strong foundation for economic and industrial takeoff of Ghana. Four decades have passed since overthrow of the Nkrumah regime but the subsequent rot and downward spiral of economic conditions of the country rage on, begging to be rescued.

Following the military coup of 1966, the CPP was proscribed and its assets confiscated. The military junta of National Liberation Council (NLC) put in place a series of decrees and measures banning the use of the name and symbols of the CPP. The successive administration of the Progress Party, in which Mr. J. A. Kufuor, current president of Ghana was a deputy minister for foreign affairs, took legal steps to kill and bury the CPP as a political organization. Nevertheless, the political fire that Kwame Nkrumah lit in the youth of Ghana during his time as a nationalist freedom fighter, has been burning persistently and consistently, against all odds.

In 2007, the year of the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s independence, the political fire smoldering in the adherents of Nkrumahism started to burn with rage and fury as young Ghanaians saw and heard Kwame Nkrumah in videotapes and documentaries. In 2008, the 51st independence anniversary of Ghana, the CPP COALITION, USA wishes to reason with Ghanaians to put behind us the economic and political misfortunes of the nation during the past 40 years and to concentrate on devising the means to continue and complete the systematic approach to development of Ghana started by Kwame Nkrumah with the CPP as the vanguard political organization.

In December 2008, there will be a real chance for Ghanaians to elect, once again, a true CPP government whose leaders are imbued with the good traditions and idealism of Nkrumahism.

A CPP government in Ghana, starting January 2009, will recast the economic and political conditions that have inhibited progress and development of the country.

With a CPP government in Ghana, when existing laws become enforced, there will be change in the mind-set that induces corruption among all categories of public officials and workers. The idea of “zero tolerance for corruption” will be given its true meaning, according to the letter and spirit of the law of the land.

With a CPP government in Ghana, the promise of “working and happiness” will not remain mere political slogan. The Party has the record to back up the promise of job creation and employment generation for all able-bodied citizens. No wonder people are now calling CPP “edwuma wura” – literally, the owner or creator of jobs. A CPP government will facilitate reactivation of abandoned state sponsored and private-owned manufacturing factories to serve the material and employment needs of citizens.

With a CPP government in Ghana, the country will move away from exporting raw materials to become a net exporter of finished products. By reactivating dormant manufacturing plants, a CPP government will wean Ghanaians from their appetite for imported commodities, especially food and drinks that can be produced locally in the country. In the process, productive initiative among Ghanaians will be rekindled.

With a CPP government in Ghana, alleviating poverty and mitigating the conditions that reproduce poverty will be an integral part of the national culture, where the economic tide of society will lift every boat and ship to safety, and where no individual will be left to suffer alone and in vain. In this instance, a CPP government will move away from “jobs for the boys” to “jobs for the people.” A CPP government will protect and enhance the rights of all categories of people with regards to their basic needs for shelter, food and clothing.

With a CPP government in Ghana, there will be no inequality in the remuneration for workers on the basis of gender, ethnicity or nationality. A CPP government will ensure that the labor of Ghanaians will be accorded remuneration equal to that of foreign workers in the country.

Failure for the CPP to lead Ghana and Africa on the path towards progressive economic transformation would amount to abdicating the political duty of completing the transformation of the African continent that Nkrumah and the Party started in 1949.

In the spirit of March 6, 1957, CPP COALITION, USA believes that Ghanaians dare not fail or refuse to complete the task our illustrious leader started before he was cut short. After accomplishing the work of political liberation of the Gold Coast and delivered independence to Ghana, Nkrumah called on Ghanaians to look beyond the horizon towards the rest of Africa and make its problems their own and to seek total emancipation.

Kwame Nkrumah, borrowing from the poet Tennyson, reminded Ghanaians very often about the essence of time because there is “so much to do, so little time.” Ghanaians must seize the moment and transform possibilities into realities in matters of importance to our nation and continent.

The time is now, for economic emancipation of Africa!

Forward Ever!

CONTACTS:

Yaw Adu-Otu ----- aduotu1@yahoo.com Phone: (703) 615-1821

Kojo Arthur ----- adinkraba2@yahoo.com