PPP Shakes Accra

Barring any last minute hitches, the newly-founded political party, the Progressive People�s Party (PPP), will tomorrow Saturday, February 25, 2012 hold its maiden national convention. The theme for the convention is: �Educate, Inform & Organise for Victory 2012,� and it will come off at the VIP Wing of the Accra Sports Stadium. The convention, which will bring together about 3,500 card-bearing members of the PPP, will start at 9:00 A.M., and end at around 1:00 P.M. To spice up the occasion, a number of other activities have been lined up by the leadership to run along with the main event, says a release from the party. On the more sombre side, according to the organisers, the PPP leadership will also use the occasion to examine the party�s constitution, and openly arrange all activities in a way that will afford delegates and supporters of the party in attendance the full opportunity to fraternise. Earlier yesterday, a presidential aspirant of the PPP, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, met with a cross section of journalists in Accra where he disclosed that the party will also use the occasion to introduce all its national executives, and also unveil to the people of Ghana the party�s political platform, which is the 10-point Agenda of the PPP. The 10-point Agenda, Dr. Nduom explained, is built around four solid pillars�Stewardship, Education, Healthcare and Jobs. According to him, when Ghanaians give them the mandate to form the next national administration the PPP intends to implement that agenda using the spirit of inclusiveness built on three main points. These are one, making sure it brings the best Ghanaians on board to do the job of running the country; two, ensuring the full participation of women and the youth, and; above all, providing a leadership that is incorruptible. The party aims at effectively tackling corruption, a move Dr. Nduom, believes will double state revenue, and then, more importantly, it will use the accrued amount to pay for programmes and projects on education, healthcare and job creation in ways that will really transform the fortunes of "our people.� �Our preparedness to fight corruption in the country has at least being demonstrated in our call for the separation of the Attorney-General�s office from the Ministry of Justice� [and the need to] strengthen the IRS with technology,� Dr. Nduom reiterated. Dr. Nduom stressed that the PPP is not a breakaway political party or an appendage of any party but a separate and independent party that wants to improve the quality of lives of Ghanaians. ��The PPP is a new happening on Ghana�s political scene, and has the goal of providing a better alternative to the tow main political parties through better governance.� Among the many innovations the party intends to introduce into Ghanaian politics is the continuation and completion of various projects the country has sought to undertake since independence. �We [a PPP national administration] would do something that no political party seeking political power has ever done. We would complete all projects started in Ghana no matter who started it...whether it was started by Nkrumah or whoever. A PPP administration will be committed to working toward their completion,� said Dr. Nduom. �We would out-door the party and also educate our members on our political platforms�� he said about the convention. The party�s 10-point Agenda, according to an earlier release, is the social contract the PPP seeks to enter into with Ghanaian voters going into the December polls, because it is pregnant with many practical solutions to the country�s woes. Many are those who were surprised when the PPP, within weeks of its formation, presented to the Electoral Commission endorsed forms that met the criteria for the formation of a political party, party officials observed. Similar surprise awaits the people of Ghana, Today has been told, when a national committee of the PPP and representatives from the ten regions and two hundred and thirty constituencies gather at the VIP Arena of Accra Sports Stadium tomorrow for its national convention. � Apart from calling on the youth of the country to join the party in drives as it has a vision for all categories of people, the PPP also declared its intention to work towards the goal of ensuring that 20% of its parliamentary candidates are women.