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The ruling National Democratic Congress NDC has denounced assertions that the Conventions People Party has for long been overshadowed by the ruling party, describing those comments as untrue and unfair. In times past, many have fingered the NDC for being instrumental for the lack of political and structural growth and popularity of the CPP. As if to confirm this notion, son of Ghana's first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Nkrumah, after being dismissed as Coordinator of the National Youth Council of the NDC, resigned from the party. His resignation came just a day after his sister, Samia Nkrumah became the first woman chairperson of the CPP on the 10th of September. His reason was that his affiliation with the NDC would disrupt his sister Samia Nkrumah�s political goals. However, the Deputy Minister of Education, Mahama Ayariga, has refuted these claims saying that the NDC does not seek to stifle the growth of any political party, most especially the CPP, but it only intends to unify the various political parties, out of which the NDC was born. Speaking on an Accra-based radio station on 17th September, the minister said that the NDC emerged from the different traditional political factions thus although it welcomed a coalition with the CPP and the other Nkrumahist parties, it did not intend to restrict the political freedom of any party. �From the AFRC, emerged the PNDC and then in 1992, the PNDC then made a very conscious effort to separate from all existing political traditions and formed the NDC during the democratic transitions and so within the NDC, we had members of CPP, GCPP, PNDC and even UP activists within the makeup of the party. "The NDC was the first party to unite all the political traditions into one umbrella. "That is the basis of the umbrella. The CPP, GCPP, PNDC, UP and all the revolutionary forces at the time. � He declared the children of Nkrumah were no more indoctrinated to the ideals of the CPP than some members of the NDC. �The question is, is Samia�s claim to being CPP any better than the claim of John Mahama whose father was a minister under the CPP or even me, whose father was a member of parliament under the same government? "On what basis can one claim to be CPP, because your father was the founding member of the party? � In terms of policy content, Hon. Ayariga said that although the NDC has always pursued the original policies of Nkrumah, however, 50 years down the line, it was only prudent that those policies are amended to suit current economic times. Asked if there were intentions to propose a merger between the ruling party and the CPP, Hon. Ayariga, said �NDC, made up of all the political forces, we have accommodated each other since 1992, some have left for one reason or the other; Sekou Nkrumah for instance, joined the party when we invited him during the elections. "I�m sure that if we see that there are clear indications to that effect, we will invite Samia Nkrumah to join us. "The point is that the NDC will continue to reach out to all forces; our objective is to unify all political factions.