The Convention People’s Party (CPP) yesterday marked the 122nd birthday of its Founder, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, with a call on the youth to rally behind the party in order to rescue the country from its current economic state.

The Chairperson of the party, Nana Akosua Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankumah, who made the call, said as the youth rallied behind Nkrumah in the early 50s, they must do so now too “so that we can give you the economic independence that you need”.

The event to mark Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day was held at the refurbished Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra.

It was attended by the General Secretary of the CPP, Nana Yaa Jantuah; the First Vice-Chairman of the party, Onzy Nkrumah; the Deputy General Secretary, Kwame Botsio; the Chairman of the Council of Elders of the party, Christian Zigah, and the National Organiser, Moses Yirimambo.

Activities

It involved the laying of wreaths on the tombstone of Nkrumah at the mausoleum and the cutting of a birthday cake.

Both ceremonies were preceeded by the performance of libation.

Nana Kumankumah stressed the need for Nkrumah’s selfless dedication and national thoughts to be imbibed in every single politician in the country.

That, she said, was to ensure that people benefited from the independence that came in 1957.

“As we continue, we want to ask all the youth of the country and everywhere to rally behind CPP as others did in the early 50s, to send the colonial invaders away.

Rally behind us so that we can get the economic independence that you deserve, give you the accommodation, quality health care, better education and the quality of life that was promised you,” he said.

Nana Kumakumah urged the youth to go ahead and live the dream of Nkrumah, and let his spirit be ignited in them to be the best in whatever they did.

Nana Jantuah said Nkrumah would have been more prudent in the management of the country’s economic resources if he were alive today.

Under the CPP, she said, the country would have industrialised more and created more jobs for the teeming youth across the country, adding that if the founder of the CPP were alive today, he would have created a better nation for Ghanaians.

In a statement to mark the day, the CPP said it was determined to reposition itself in the current political space, and that “it is instructive to know that we have begun our quest to wrestle political power from the neo-colonialist New Patriotic Party to once again bring economic independence to our people”.

The time, it said, had come for Ghanaians to vote for the CPP to change the fortunes of the nation, and that “if nothing is done, if the nation is not salvaged, we will be better off dead than alive”.

The statement said Nkrumah’s dedication to social justice and economic progress was second to none, and that made him a transformational leader whose role as a genuine Pan-Africanist and a patriot could not be understood. 

Sovereignty

“Nkrumah believed that true independence required not only political sovereignty, but also economic self-reliance.

Nkrumah’s policies aimed to uplift the marginalised, eradicate poverty and promote education and health care for all.

As we celebrate the founder of modern Ghana’s birthday, let us not only remember his extraordinary achievements but also reflect on the principles he stood for — a free and United Africa, end the continuous unfair imperialist world order and the promotion of the African Personality, the statement said.

SOURCE: GraphicOnline