The Unity Committee of the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) has dismissed claims of an agreed merger between the two Nkrumahist parties.
A Daily Graphic publication on Monday said the National Chairpersons of both parties had signed off on the agreement to field a common Presidential and parliamentary candidates in the 2016 general elections.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pNxYl3nnqTYL6GmG3yXMowgfQ765EfIV”]The move according to the paper was aimed at strengthening the Nkrumahist front to become a third political force in Ghana alongside the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Speaking to Citi News however, PNC National Organizer and Convener of the PNC/CPP unity committee, Emmanuel Wilson said the announcement still remains an opinion of the two leaders.
He said the announcement was made by the two chairpersons was done “in their individual capacities. In other words, it was just an expression of opinion by those individuals; it does not represent the decision of our National Executive Council.”
Wilson complained that when such announcements are made before final decisions are made; it only ends up impeding the merger process.
“Anytime we do any of these things without passing through the due process, we end up frustrating the process of unity,” adding that such pronouncements have largely contributed to their failure to “have a successful unity because we do not pass through the right channel.”
He recalled that in 2008, the PNC and the CPP formed an Electoral College that met at Golden Tulip to discuss a possible merger.
According to him, it was agreed that the CPP’s Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom will become the flagbearer while the PNC’s Edward Mahama will become his running mate.
The agreement was that the Electoral College will present the proposal to the various National Executive Committees of the two parties for final endorsement before announcing it to the public.
“Before we could leave the meeting, the news had already been circulated in the media which again impeded the process and that is how come in 2008, we could not even have the merger.”
“In 2012, we could not have it again and this time, people are still repeating the same thing of not following due process and it is ending up frustrating the system,” Wilson lamented.
He cautioned that when such situations keep repeating, “we present ourselves to the public that we are not serious as far as the unity is concerned and people will not take us serious.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan