We Left CPP Because Samia Failed Us - PPP Delegates

A number of delegates at the first convention of the Progressive People�s Party, held in Accra on Saturday, who claim to have crossed carpet to the party from the Convention People�s Party, have told the Daily Graphic that their decision was a result of the �bad leadership� of the CPP�s current leader, Samia Nkrumah. The delegates who claimed to be former executive members of the CPP in Samia Nkrumah�s home constituency, Jomoro, said the lawmaker had not kept faith with them since she was elected to parliament. Two former constituency executive members of the CPP, Mr Samuel Akakyi and Mr Francis Tandoh, who spoke on behalf of the delegates, stated that the PPP had come to stay and capture political power to bring a sense of urgency in the development aspirations of the country. According to Mr Samuel Akakyi, a former youth organiser of the CPP in the Jomoro constituency, the leadership style of the daughter of Ghana�s first President had divided the rank of the CPP leadership in the constituency, with a majority of the executive members switching to the PPP. He alleged that Madam Nkrumah had surrounded herself with people who had no role in her campaign for the 2008 elections and as a result had turned down good counsel. �She promised us jobs, she said she was going to ensure that young people in our area were given the same opportunities that had been denied us all this while, but since she came in, she has not made true any of her promises. She has failed us,� he said. He said most of grassroot members of the CPP had joined the PPP following what they described as an abysmal leadership by its chair. Mr Francis Tandoh, a former chairman of the CPP in the Jomoro constituency, said they were working to draw more members into the PPP�s fold. He said their target was not only to bring on board members of the CPP but members of the ruling National Democratic Congress as well as the lead opposition, New Patriotic Party. According to him, both the NDC and NPP have failed the nation woefully and as a result inflicted �untold hardship� on the ordinary citizenry, saying the time for �true� change was the 2012 elections. When asked what the PPP could do differently from the two major political parties, Mr Tandoh said its leader, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, had demonstrated both in his private life and in public service that he was an achiever. He said his huge success in private business and numerous successes the country chalked up under his watch as a minister of state in the erstwhile Kufuor administration was a testimony of what he could do if given the mandate of leading the country. �At this point of our country�s development, we need someone who has a proven track record to man the state of affairs. All of us agree that Dr Nduom has demonstrated quite clearly his determination to succeed as a member of parliament, minister of state and as a business man, we have to give him the chance,� he said. According to them, if every Ghanaian who believes in Dr Nduom�s political ideology will work at convincing other Ghanaians to follow suite, the party can make history by changing the country�s electoral trends for good, come December 2012.