The Deplorable state of the Ghana International Trade Fair Centre forced the Convention People's Party (CPP) to hold its national delegates' congress in darkness.
Out of 70 bulbs that were supposed to be working in the auditorium, only six were functional at the time of voting in last Saturday's presidential primary of the CPP.
The poor lighting in the auditorium forced the party to resort to torch lights to aid visibility as the voting process started late.
Late start of programme
Speaking in an interview with the DAILY HERITAGE, Chairman and Leader of the CPP, Prof. Edmund Delle said they started the programme late due to fatigue on the part of the delegates and national executives.
Prof. Delle also added that because he wanted to avoid the situation where delegates would use the congress as a harvest season, he ensured that the congress was a one day event, thus, making the delegates travel at night to reach the venue in the morning.
According to him, the delegates were exhausted after traveling throughout the night; hence, they were made to rest, adding that they had to start the National Executive Committee meeting at 10:00 am instead of 8:00 am.
CPP won't align with any party
The CPP Chairman further told the paper that as part of efforts to strengthen the party, he would reject any form of alignment with any political party ahead of the 2016 general election.
Prof. Delle noted that under his leadership, the CPP will stay together and stronger and not be forced to go against its values and principles.
“As a party, never again shall we create the impression that we are not capable of standing on our own. We shall and we must, we can and we must do it. We have the people, we have the men; we have the women and the youth to go forward. We just need everyone including all comrades to unite together and go forward.
“We are one invincible party and nobody can break us. We should just have a unity of purpose. We do not need anyone to tell us what we can do to win power. We are going to be the masters of our destiny. We shall be in charge of our destiny. No one else will come and dictate to us. This is an important occasion in the life of this party. The only thing I expect from these candidates is brotherhood and that when the election is over, we all have to support one presidential candidate.”
Service with honesty
Addressing the delegates after the declaration of results, newly elected flag bearer of the party, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet stated that a CPP government will offer Ghanaians service with honesty, commitment and opportunity for all.
Mr. Greenstreet noted that “This is the beginning. We are offering ourselves as the vehicle for the frustrated Ghanaian who is tired of the bogus and empty promises of their leaders. We are offering ourselves on a new path in the digital age. We are offering ourselves to offer you service with honesty, service with commitment, and we believe that if you believe in us, we would provide the opportunity you all are asking for.”
Mr. Greenstreet polled 1,288 votes of the 1,992 valid votes to beat former chairperson, Samia Nkrumah who polled 579 votes. Joseph Agyapong and Bright Akwetey polled 83 and 42 votes respectively.
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