GHANA NEEDS ALTERNATIVE ECONOMIC POLICIES — SAMIA (PAGE 12, NOV 27, 2010)

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro in the Western Region, Ms Samia Nkrumah, has observed that what the country needs now are alternative economic policies that will enable Ghanaians to meet the social needs of life.
She has, therefore, called for a united Nkrumaist front to contest future elections in order to realise this dream.
“We will never be able to do this if the Nkrumaist forces do not come together,” she added.
Ms Nkrumah was speaking at a forum organised by Nkrumah Rising for the Upper West Regional branches of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in Wa.
The well attended forum attracted constituency and regional executives of the CPP and the PNC.
Nkrumah Rising is an organisation composed of CPP and PNC elements that has, as one of its mandates, the goal of creating sufficient internal pressure at the grass roots of both the CPP and the PNC to bring about the total unification of the two political parties.
Ms Nkrumah, who is a patron of Nkrumah Rising, announced that as part of her efforts at bringing total unity between the two parties, she had decided to contest the position of national chairperson of the CPP next year.
According to her, she had held a number of meetings with various stakeholders in both parties and told them about the need to preserve the Nkrumaist tradition, adding, “I am not concerned about names and symbols but what we need now are sincere leaders who are not interested in bargaining before elections.”
“We need people who are ready to sacrifice and compromise. We need to compromise on trivialities. Don’t let anyone tell you about obsession with names,” she added.
She pointed out that what needed to be done was determine why people did not vote for splintered Nkrumaist parties, adding, “We should eliminate that sing-song and show to Ghanaians that we are credible.”
Ms Nkrumah said when she won the Jomoro parliamentary seat, there were assertions that she had won because of the legacy of her father, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana.
“If they are saying that, should that be a legacy which should be rejected? If that name can be used to win votes and elections, is it wrong?” she asked.
The Jomoro MP said she decided to become a patron of Nkrumah Rising because it was made up of committed young people who had voluntarily decided to move from one constituency to another to champion the cause of unity among the Nkrumaist parties.
She said the group was not advocating an internal coup in the various parties but rather their unity.
Ms Nkrumah said she supported the activities of the group because that was what should have been done years ago and appealed to the group to keep the flame alive by becoming involved in the process.
The Facilitator of Nkrumah Rising, Mr George Boadu, said similar fora would be organised in the other regions in due course.
He said the group had, since last year, been travelling across the country to awaken the grass roots on the need to unite for victory.
Later in a communiqué, the Wa Constituency executives of the CPP and the PNC declared their support for Ms Nkrumah for the chairmanship of the CPP.
They noted that the revival of Nkrumaism could only begin with the merger of not just the PNC and the CPP but also all the other Nkrumaist groups, including the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), noting that a CPP spearheaded by Ms Nkrumah would trigger that.