CPP not helping any party to win election(November 18, 2016)

The Presidential Candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, has given the strongest indication that he is not in the 2016 presidential race to help any political party to win power.

Mr Greenstreet who was responding to media reports that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer had responded to his Mr Greenstreet criticism of his (Nana Akufo-Addo) one district, one factory policy, indirectly urging him (Greenstreet) to join forces to turf out the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the December election.

However, an unimpressed Mr Greenstreet, on his first day of campaigning in the Northern Region at Mion-Sambo last Wednesday, reacted to the call, saying “The fact is he wants to come to power, and so he is promising Ghanaians things and with the Convention People’s Party, I also want to come to power. I am not in this race to help any other party except the Convention People’s Party.”

According to media reports, the NPP flag bearer, albeit indirectly, did not understand why the CPP candidate should attack him when he was not in power, when they should rather join forces to defeat the ruling party in the upcoming election.

However, addressing the rural farmers and traders, the CPP flag bearer was unequivocal in his words saying, “I stand by my word. It is bogus.”

The NPP policy
The NPP's audacious plan to establish a factory in each district in Ghana has been bashed by its political opponents with some describing it as wishful thinking.

However, the NPP insists that the promise is redeemable and would not just lead to value addition to the country's natural resources but also as create more jobs.

Mr Greenstreet also pinched the NPP candidate, seeking to find out how many factories he brought to Ghana when he was a minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration during the Kufuor administration, how how many factories were established by the party which was in power from 2001-2009 and christened the era golden-age of business?

“How many factories were they able to bring to Ghana, for them all of a sudden to be promising the whole Ghana, one district, one factory?” He asked.

The applause was low but went decibels higher when Mr Greenstreet’s comment was later translated into the Kokomba dialect.

Plans for Mion
Turning his attention to Mion, a rural community which produces food crops including maize, guinea corn and cassava, he said the party had special projects to improve agriculture.

He promised the farmers good roads, subsidies, agriculture inputs, efficient extension services and marketing avenues to reward their efforts.

He was unimpressed with the level of development in the area which still has a bumpy-dusty road in spite of being one of the many food baskets in the Northern Region,stating that the “CPP will do everything it can to ensure that Mion becomes the centre of activity as well as gets it fair share of the project it deserved.”
CPP optimism

The CPP is very optimistic about winning the Mion seat and it reflected in its intensified campaign in the area, organising three mini rallies in the communities in Mion-Sambo, Jagrido and Nadundo.

Almost the entire party hierarchy, including the National Chairman, Prof. Edmund Delle; the First National Vice Chairperson, Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim; the Third Vice Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Tijani, the National Organiser, Mr Emmanuel Ogborjor; the National Campaign Coordinator, Mr Rashid Alao, and a host of regional and constituency executives, were part of the campaign train to the constituency.

The team paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Kokomba Community in Mion, Ubor Jagria Npuangna, who threw his weight behind the CPP and insisted that it would be a shame for the CPP to visit and seek his blessings but lose the election.

In a welcome speech laced with proverbs, he said: “It is the shame of the river if a woman comes to fetch water but returns home empty-handed.”

Here, Mr Greenstreet promised to deal with the fallen standards of education in the area by improving infrastructure and providing incentives that would attract teachers to rural communities.

The team also visited the Regent of Nadundo, Ubor Jasak Jakpii, before addressing a rally where the electorate was urged to reject the NDC and the NPP in the upcoming election because they had neglected the Mion Constituency.

Prof. Delle
 Prof.  Delle urged the electorate to give the CPP a chance as it had awoken and would change the fortunes of Ghanaians.

He said the party would bring the progress and unity the country needed at this point in time, pointing to the achievement of Dr Nkrumah as its basis.

The campaign train was also in the Saboba Constituency where it paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Saboba, Ubor Cheek Binalibemi Kambonja I.

Ubor Kambonja acknowledged the achievements of Dr Nkrumah and added that Mr Greenstreet would be the best person to continue the first President’s legacy.
He, however, said the paramountcy would support the winner of the 2016 election.