Dr. Sam Jonah: I Don't Belong To Any Party...I'm Just A Supporter Of Ghana

Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ashanti Gold Fields and now Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, an equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa, has flatly denied media reports that he is set to contest the flag-bearership slot of the Convention People�s Party (CPP). The CPP on Wednesday, January 4th opened nominations for its National Delegates Conference scheduled for March to elect a presidential candidate. Presidential hopefuls will have to pay 20,000 Ghana cedis as filing fee and an additional 500 Ghana cedis to buy the forms. A Ghana News Agency (GNA) report on Thursday quoting CPP party sources described Dr Jonah as bold and fearlessly ambitious, who had built Pan African companies with regional and even global presence with the ability to influence and effect change in the political landscape of the party and country. It said Dr Jonah, a loyal CPP member, had supported the party over the years from the background, and is now ready to come to front line politicking to transform the electoral fortunes of the party. But Dr. Jonah, who appeared clearly stunned by this piece of information, was emphatic in an interview during PeaceFM News@Midday, that he has no intention of leading any political party nor is he a member of the CPP or any other party for that matter. �Who is going to stand on the ticket of the CPP as a flagbearership? I�m stunned at the news. I�m not a card-bearing member of any political party neither NPP, NDC nor CPP. I�m just a supporter of Ghana�.I�m not interested in the presidency, neither am I interested in politics. I don�t know where the news is emanating from and I wonder how they got the information that I intend to contest the CPP flagbearer race. This is Sam Jonah speaking, no-one has spoken to me from the CPP on the issue of joining the party or becoming a flagbearer�Every one of my close associates know of my disinterest in politics�I�m really at a loss�,� he said. Dr. Jonah was reacting to reports by the Ghana News Agencythat suggested he had expressed interest in running for presidency on the ticket of the CPP. Clearly aghast at the news, the former AngloGold Ashanti President described the GNA report as �irresponsible journalism�. �I don�t know where GNA got their story from. Recently, at the Cape Coast University Graduation ceremony, the GNA reported that I had criticized the gov�t. When I challenged the report and gave them a copy of the speech I read at the function, they (GNA) admitted the error and rendered profuse apologies�The level of journalism at GNA sometimes really gives cause for concern. It is irresponsible journalism�Why? I�m being inundated with calls from family members all over the world seeking to know if the story is true,� he stated. The business magnate, who was recently conferred with an honorary Knighthood presented to him by the Prince of Wales on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, again reiterated that he has no aspirations whatsoever to go into political life and therefore any speculation linking his name to any party is clearly baseless. �...I�m not, have never been, and have no plans to be a member of any political party whether the NPP, NDC or CPP. I�m not a card-bearing member of any party�I�m a Ghanaian and when the time comes for me to exercise my franchise, I�ll do so as a responsible citizen depending on my preference. It has never been my intention to engage in politics either yesterday, today or tomorrow. Never!...It is bad journalism on the part of whoever wrote the story�,� he declared.