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Some members of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) have called on the party’s Central Committee and its leadership to put in the appropriate measures for the reorganisation of the party from the grassroots to the national level. 

The group, known as the “Concerned Members of the CPP”, said it was the only way to ensure that the party had more formidable structures and the right candidates to win the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

They made the call at a press conference held yesterday in Accra.

The group was led by an aspirating General Secretary of the party, Kodwo Afari-Yeboah, as convenor; a 2020 flag bearer aspirant, Dr Divine Ayivor; an Ahanta Constituency West executive, Isaac Kwaku Annan; and a flag bearer hopeful and lawyer, Wayoe Ghanamannti, among others.

Mr Afari-Yeboah noted that the Central Committee of the CPP, the party’s highest administrative body, on March 28, 2023, decided to hold the flag bearer congress to elect a presidential candidate for the party, and in subsequent press releases gave a timetable for the commencement of the legally mandated reorganisation of the party to begin at all levels on April 15, 2023.
 
Lamentation
He, however, lamented that the programme presented by the committee made the flag bearer contest the paramount activity with all the attention and energy of the current leadership solely focused on the processes towards the election of a presidential candidate thereby failing to perform any activity towards the grassroots’ reorganisation.

“Leadership has even failed to send notification and guidelines for the conduct of the grassroots reorganisation exercise.

This is a clear indication of the absence of prioritisation of the important task of organising the structures of the party from the grassroots,” Mr Afari-Yeboah stressed.


He stated that the move by the party’s leaders would cause a lack of grassroots-based structure that was capable of carrying the message and campaign of the party and also protecting the votes of the party during national elections.

Call
The group urged the party’s leaders to adhere to its constitution, change the sequence of implementation, and attach the same level of urgency to the election of polling station, electoral area and constituency executives across the country because the strength of the party resided in the grassroots.

“This effort will culminate in constituency congresses to elect the executives who will become the main delegates for congresses.

All these could be concluded by August 2023, where the party will now have the formidable structure to hold congress to elect parliamentary candidates and flag bearer,” he said.


They also called on all flag bearer aspirants to join the calls by the rank and file of the party for the grassroots’ reorganisation process and reach out not only to party members in Accra but across the length and breadth of the country during their campaigns.

The group equally called disgruntled members to avail themselves for the immediate resolution of all petitions and court cases through the use of internal mechanisms.