As the nation marks its 59th independence anniversary, the leadership of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) has said its assets confiscated after the overthrow of Dr Kwame Nkrumah is impoverishing the party.
It has, therefore, reminded President John Dramani Mahama to fulfil his promise to release what it claims are the party’s assets.
According to the party, it acquired the confiscated state properties through the sweat and toil of its members and that it was only right the government returned those assets to the party.
The National Chairman and Leader of the CPP, Prof. Edmund Nminyem Delle, was speaking to the Daily Graphic on Ghana’s 59th independence anniversary.
CPP impoverished
Prof. Delle pointed out that the assets seized had impoverished the CPP and said “in modern politics, without financial stability, we cannot run and administer an effective and functional political party”.
He, however, expressed the conviction that the government, under the leadership of President Mahama, would give back their properties.
“The leadership of the CPP is doing everything possible and we trust that our properties will be returned to us to help the CPP stay on its feet and play its expected role in the Fourth Republican dispensation,” he told the Daily Graphic.
CPP in court over seized assets
The CPP, in August 2015, dragged the government to the Human Rights Division of the High Court to order the return of the party’s assets. A writ of summons filed on behalf of the party by its lawyer, Mr Bright Akwetey, prayed the court to order the government to return its confiscated assets, which have for the past 50 years been occupied by state agencies without the payment of rent.
President Mahama last year promised to release the assets when some CPP officials paid a courtesy call on him, but that pledge is yet to be fulfilled.
59th Anniversary
While wishing Ghanaians a united, happy and peaceful anniversary, Prof. Delle challenged Ghanaians to keep together and make sacrifices to solve the numerous problems the country was facing.
He also bemoaned the politics of antagonism which was fast creeping into the political structure of the country and said “unless we change our style of politics and work for the people no country can develop with such an attitude”.
He charged the political leadership to lead by example to sanitise the political atmosphere and said, “We need politics of consensus building, where individuals’ liberties, rights and freedoms are cherished.
Development paradigm
On the development paradigm of the country, Prof. Delle noted that “a nation which is overly dependent on outside resources and influences could not develop as fast as it wanted”.
“We must go back to the drawing board and work hard to overcome the dependency syndrome,” he advised.
According to Prof. Delle, Ghanaians cannot do the same things over and over again. He said, “Things definitely cannot remain the same if we want different results and high productivity for the people.”
In line with this, Prof. Delle reiterated the CPP’s commitment to use the state as the engine of development by empowering industries and agriculture to provide the needs of the people.
He said there was the need to inculcate the spirit of do-it-yourself in Ghanaians and reduce the high taste for foreign goods by Ghanaians.
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