The resignation of Dr Abu Sakara Foster, flag-bearer of the Convention People's Party, CPP, leaves many Ghanaians shocked and worried about the fate of the party and its relevance within the Ghanaian body politic.
As the first political party to win political power in Ghana, the CPP has over the decades dwindled to a state where it is but a shadow of itself. This has very negative consequences on the politics of the nation because the ideals of the Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah could in so many ways help to salvage the many challenges confronting Ghana.
The woes of the CPP started with the overthrow of Ghana’s First President, Nkrumah. After the 1966 uprising, the party was banned by the military regime such that it was not allowed to contest in the 1969 elections. That was the first blow. What it did to the party was to begin the process of fragmentation so it could not be one complete whole again.
Firstly Dr Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, an affiliate of the CPP formed the National Alliance of Liberals.
With the Dawn of the third republic, another fragment of the CPP surfaced in the form of the People's National Party, which eventually won power. But the regime did not last long because of the 31st December, 1981 coup d’ tat.
The Fourth Republic has seen the most of this fragmentation. One would have thought that the various fragments would have united after many years of division but no, the People's Convention Party (PCP) emerged. The PCP even formed alliance with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of the Danquah-Busia-Domo tradition in the 1996 general election.
This could be the reason why this one time great party has been reduced to its level of failure because the various Nkrumah families, notably the PNC, PCP, PPP, GCPP, have failed to unite.
And so we have a situation in which all these parties are clearly struggling for some political relevance in Ghana.
What is more worrying is the poaching of key CPP politicians by the two major political parties today. It is on record that a number of functionaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were in many ways associated with the CPP.
Mention could be made of the late President John Evans Atta-Mills. The current president; John Dramani Mahama, also has roots in the CPP. The result is that the NDC now looks like the true replacement of the CPP, but that is also not possible because the NDC has evolved over time with its own ideologies and a recognised founder.
It leaves CPP now as a party with a chunk of its membership swept away by the NDC. Even the NPP could boast of poaching Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom to serve under President John Agyekum Kufuor.
As if that was not enough members of the CPP are on a resignation spree to further deepen the woes of the party.
It looks like either the leadership of the party does not have the capacity to contain internal disputes or some individuals are impatient in dealing with problems. Firstly, it was Dr Nduom, Flag-bearer of the party in the 2008 elections who resigned and formed the Progressive People’s Party. That made the party weaker and the results were clear during the 2012 general election.
Now Dr Abu Sakara Foster has also decided to go independent in the upcoming 2016 elections. This comes days after Mr Hassan Ayariga, flag-bearer of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) in the 2012 general election also resigned after his defeat in the PNC presidential primaries.
How come this great fraternity cannot unite, only God knows? But one thing is sure. Ghana would need a third force that would act as king-makers by wining substantial votes to be able to determine which party becomes the next to win power, just like the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom.
The media front of the CPP is also another heart breaking scenario. The fraternity is blessed to have had great media practitioners like Kweku Baako Jnr, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, but one is yet to see the expertise of the two men brought to bear on the party’s organisation as far as projecting the CPP in the eyes of Ghanaians is concerned.
Apart from the CPP not having a media outlet its media men are clearly seen fraternising with either the NDC or the NPP.
It is time all fragmented members of the CPP join forces to form a single party and then they are sure to attract all those who are naturally tired of the NPP and the NDC.
For this to happen it is necessary that people bury their pride and seek only the interest of the party and that of mother Ghana.
The leadership of the party should understand that it could only be relevant in numbers and therefore should do everything possible to retain their members instead of losing them indiscriminately through unresolved misunderstandings.
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