Dr Nduom brought no ideologies to CPP - Dr Abu Sakara

Dr. Foster Abu Sakara, the former running mate of Dr Paa Kwasi Nduom, says Dr Nduom's exit will not lead to the collapse of the party since Nduom brought no new ideologies to the party. 

The 54 year-old agriculturist and consultant says his bid to contest for the flagbearership position of the CPP is due to his passion to renew the party and to restore it to government in order to transform the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian. 

According to him Ghana needs a fundamental change to some system of governance to empower ordinary people to effectively hold politicians accountable at every level of government in real time. 

The vision of Dr. Abu Sakara for Ghana is for it to be “the jewel in Africa’s crown of achievement” giving inspiration to all Africans everywhere to reach their full potential. 

Dr. Abu Sakara, is married to Mary-Lily Kafela Tigenoah, an Economist and Business Administrator with four children. On Tuesday, January 31, 2012, the CPP contender made clear his intentions for his party and Ghanaians as a whole in an interview with e.tv Ghana’s Awake host, Rashida Nasamu. 

Here are excerpts from the interview: 

Rashida Nasamu (RN): Has the CPP put its house in order to be talking of a congress? 

Dr Abu Sakara (AS): I think first of all the attention on the CPP is because people are looking for something different to the NPP and the NDC. There is a high level of frustration. Their concerns are not being met and they are depressed and therefore they are looking elsewhere. I think the CPP offers that alternative principally because its values and principles have always spoken to the needs of ordinary Ghanaians. More importantly, of recent times it has shown the only flicker of hope on the horizon of having a new generation of Ghanaians. The CPP has always had strong emphasis on making sure that there is employment as a source of work and happiness. The youth these days are very concerned about high level of unemployment and they want options and have some very good ideas about how to deal with that. 

RN: How far have preparations gone for your delegates’ congress?  

AS: This is a point of transition and constitutionally we have separated the flagbearership contest from that of the executive leaders. This is the first time we have done it and definitely it will take time before it falls in place. We have also been looking at the structures of the grassroots. More importantly, we have been focusing the minds of our members on the fact that at the grassroots level what is most important is a network of members. Therefore around the polling stations we need to establish our executives and that is what we have been trying to address. 

 RN: Is the party ready to move on with the exit of the Dr Paa Kwasi Nduom?  

AS: We have had some great leaders in the CPP but even the greatest of them, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, we have learnt to move on without him. So, I’m sure we have moved on with the exit of Dr Paa Kwasi Nduom. One person moving does not collapse a party because a party exists for a purpose. It is important for people in the party to know the reason for joining the party. Paa Kwasi didn’t bring any ideologies to the party. One of the key things about the CPP is value systems, how it expresses its political ideology and how that translates into policies in the country. It is one of the few parties where you will see a consistent trend that has been established on fundamental principles and tenets. And those existed long before Paa Kwasi came and they continue to be the guiding principles for the party. So, in that sense he came to give expression to them just as we are all there to give expression to them. And we came independent of each other. 

RN: Expression you say in what sense? You say he was just another member of the party contrary to what so many people believe. Because CPP is the first name that crops up when you mention Paa Kwasi Nduom?  

AS: I think that is an issue of marketing. You associate yourself with the party and try to create an image of yourself with the brand of the party. And that was effectively done in the last campaign. But prior to that, CPP existed and who knew that Dr Paa Kwasi belonged to it. These are issues of how the media is used and it is effective for a campaign to have that image but it is not a permanent fixture of the party. It moves on just as you have new elected leadership. I’m sure that many people think of Kufuor when they think of the NPP. But before him there were other people of their time who were also associated with it. So, it is just a thing in passing.

RN: Dr Sakara, you were close pals. Are you still close pals with Dr Paa Kwasi Nduom? 

AS: Contrary to what a lot of people think, I actually never knew Dr Paa Kwasi until the 2008 elections. I wasn’t a close associate of his. I had to work close with him as the first national vice chairman to ensure that the objectives of the party were prosecuted and in the process we developed a political relationship but not a social one.  

RN: Why do you think you are the best person to lead the CPP now? 

AS: There are a number of reasons. I think first of all the kind of leadership that the CPP need now is a consensus driven leadership that is not confrontational. 

RN: Have there been confrontations in the past with regards to the CPP? 

AS: Well, I think all of you have been in the media. Perhaps the ways of approaching the solution to our problems have been more confrontational.  

RN: So, that is to say you need more house cleaning? 

AS: It’s not to say we need more house cleaning. I think it’s to say that we need a different management style that is suited to our current needs. And that is being provided by our current chairperson. 

(Back to question on what new things he brings to the CPP) Secondly, I think that there are particular skills and talents that I have developed in my professional career which are very pertinent to the developed world and to the development of Ghana.  

RN: What do you hope to achieve before, during and after the contest; whether the mandate is given to you or not?  

AS: The first thing is to galvanize the party to be focused on its objectives of winning power in Ghana to be able to prosecute its unfinished agenda. The second part that we hope to do is to sell our message to Ghanaians about the vision of Ghana as the jewel in Africa’s crown of achievement, about the vision of an emancipated society, of an economy that is driven from within and not from without. And I think those are very important issues that relate not only to the performance of the economy but also to the kind of society that we have. I think the fundamental point is that if a society is not growing from within, it is dying from without. Therefore, if our economy is not structured in such a way that our manufacturing sector will grow then we are dying. Especially speaking to employment for the youth and how the resources of the country are managed, we will want to see a very different way of managing the petroleum funds. 

 RN: What message are you sending to the CPP delegates and not the entire citizenry of Ghana?  

AS: The key thing about the delegates is that they are primarily concerned about the health of the party and its competitiveness because unless you respond to that you will not get the opportunity to talk to the largest economic issues. So first and foremost, we want to let the delegates know that we are returning to the basic tenets and principles of the party in order to put it in shape. Secondly, we are ensuring that there is discipline in the party for everyone. No one will be above discipline so that there is a sense of fairness and equity. Thirdly, we will like to ensure that service to the party is rewarded. We will like to ensure that leadership of the party rise through service. 

RN: We will like to understand whether financially, as per the perception of the ordinary Ghanaian on politics, you have the financial clout to embark on your journey of being the flagbearer of the CPP?  

AS: Well, I think the first the thing to ask is what is demanded of leadership in guiding the country politically? It is judgment, good judgment in decision making concerning the type of society we want to build. That requires experience, information, knowledge and ability. It is not about financial requirement. It is true that the cost of running a campaign requires money. However, that money does not come from an individual. If you have any sound party that works well, it is a collective responsibility and it comes from sympathizers who believe in the message of the party. Nkrumah was not a rich man, neither was Liman nor Busia. What is needed is the person’s ability and experience to make good judgment that moves the country in a direction to meet a greater common goal. It is not necessarily the case that you have to be a rich person. In fact, sometimes you become an impediment because you want to move the party at your own pace instead of listening to the people.  

RN: If you are given the nod what are the first steps you will like to put in place to ensure that you put your party back on track? 

AS: I have been in the party since 2000 and one of the key things I will be addressing is to focus on mobilizing its membership. First get your own people to vote for you then you can stake your share in the Ghanaian political landscape. You can then go back to get the rest. 

 RN: Do you think the CPP is a viable option for the ordinary Ghanaian?  

AS: Very much so because I believe that we have rich talents in the party who have come from professional backgrounds and therefore have had experience and are able to speak concretely to the issues in a realistic way. Beyond that the issue of viability is both internal and external. When external conditions lead to a situation of frustration, people look for an alternative that gives opportunities to a new party. 

He ended by stating that he had observed a lot of voter dissatisfaction towards both the NPP and the NDC and that the CPP were looking to capitalize on this paradigm shift to propel themselves into government come the close of the year. 

Jasmine Arku/etvghana.com