Dr. Sekou Nkrumah, a member of the ruling National Democratic Congress and son of Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has quit the party to support the rebuilding of the Convention People’s Party, founded by his father and now led by his sister, Samia Nkrumah, as chairman.
Samia was elected party chair at a national delegates congress only last Saturday, and according to Sekou, who broke his resignation on Joy FM Tuesday morning, the development requires that he supports his sister’s ambition rather than remain an obstacle.
“I think in all fairness, in the wake of the recent developments in the CPP, …if I continue being in the NDC, it would appear that I am an obstacle to the revival of the CPP,” he said.
It is Dr Sekou’s firm belief that the woes of the CPP are largely the cause of the NDC because “over the years it is the NDC that has taken over the CPP constituency so in that sense I think the biggest obstacle to any CPP revival is actually the NDC and, therefore, if I continue being in the NDC, it would appear that I am working against her ambitions and I don’t want the impression …that I’m the obstacle to the revival of the party that many have described as ‘my father’s party’”.
While maintaining that he was clear in his mind that the NDC has captured the base of the CPP, “at this particular moment, the picture is not looking right for Sekou to be in the NDC and Samia to be trying to revive the CPP – I think one of us has to give way.”
His reasons for quitting the NDC go beyond just not wanting to appear to be detracting from his sister’s efforts – he has problems in the NDC.
Sekou run into trouble when he questioned the political acumen of president Mills in an interview with the AfricaWatch Magazine.
He was sacked from his job as the Coordinator of the National Youth Council. He subsequently supported former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings’ bid to lead the NDC but she lost miserably.
That put the relevance of Dr Sekou in the NDC in doubt and he admitted that. “At the moment I don’t really play a very significant role in the NDC and the reason is that some of us had championed a change in the leadership but as we all saw, the NDC delegates spoke very loudly and clearly and their decision was that they want to continue with the present leadership of the NDC and which has also made some of us to take a back seat and become almost insignificant and not very clear about the way forward,” he explained.
Dr Sekou wished the NDC well but emphasized he has at this moment not rejoined the CPP.