Nduom not interested in ministerial post
Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, Presidential candidate of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), says he will not accept ministerial appointment in any government.
The man who was expected to cause an upset in Ghana’s 2008 elections, but failed to impress as the results trickled in says he has no interest in serving as a minister of state again, no matter which political party comes into power, after final results have been declared.
Dr. Nduom said these to the media at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Accra Monday, December 8, 2008.
He told the media that he was expressing gratitude to Ghanaians for the reception he and his team received during their campaigning for the elections.
He said, throughout the CPP’s campaign, Ghanaians have welcomed his message of change that they could feel in their pockets.
He said he has experienced the dreams of many ordinary Ghanaians who identified themselves with the CPP.
He said from the beginning of the CPP’s campaign, they chose the path of positive campaigning insisting that the CPP, the party which won independence for Ghana, would not be the party to lead the country into chaos. He therefore said the party would not do anything that would lead to violence, and that was why he led a clean campaign devoid of personal attacks.
He said he found during the campaigns that all over the country, Ghanaians are asking for good education, good health care and jobs that would put money in their pockets.
“We promised that together we shall build a better country, that we shall run a truly all inclusive administration,” he said, adding that Ghanaians welcomed his message.
He spoke about the challenges the CPP faced at the beginning of the campaign, saying at that time no one believed that the CPP could run a successful campaign, but looking at what had happened, he believes the campaign was successful.
Commenting on anticipation that some observers held that the CPP would force the elections into a second round of voting, he said most Ghanaians do not want to go through a second round and that was why they decided to vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He called on the NDC and the NPP to respect the trust the people have put in them and to wait for the final determination of the results so that the county does not descend into violence.
He commended the Electoral Commission for maintaining its credibility in the conduct of the elections.
“Ghana is more important than the CPP and Papa Kwesi Nduom”, he said, promising to do all he could to maintain the peace of the country.
He thanked the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for giving him and his running mate, Dr. Abu Forster Sakara the platform to make known their programmes to the people.
He called on the CPP executive to organize a national congress in the next 12 months to elect national leaders to run the affairs of the party.
He also hopes that the CPP would form a shadow administration in January when a new government comes into office.
Dr. Nduom in his address, said the CPP has done well in this election, however, he said the party needs to build a greater sense of purpose and find the resources to build a political party into whose hands Ghanaians can entrust the administration of the country.
He thanked his family and staff as well as all the people who helped the party during the campaign.
Dr. Nduom commended all the party executive and parliamentary candidates who made sacrifices for the party during the campaign.
During question time, he said he would not accept any offer to serve as a minister in any government. He said after serving as an Assemblyman, a Member of Parliament and Minister of State, he wants to move on to something higher.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi