The Convention People’s Party (CPP) on Wednesday called on the government to commemorate January 8, as a ‘Sacred Day’ on the national calendar as it marks the beginning of the country’s independence struggle.
It said it was on that important day on January 8, 1950, that Positive Action Day which ignited the independence struggle began.
The CPP explained that the January 8 was observed as a Red-Letter Day and a critical moment, which enabled workers, farmers, youth, men, women, chiefs and all sections of society united and mobilized against the usurpers and foreign occupiers of the native land.
“Weapons used to demand independence were strikes, boycotts, and non-cooperation based upon the principle of non-violence,” Mr James Kwabena Bomfeh Junior, CPP Acting Secretary-General, said in Accra to mark the day.
He said the call for ‘self-government now’ by the CPP led by its Founder, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was achieved because of organisation, hence it deserves a place on the national calendar roll of honour for sacred days in the nation’s history.
The CPP organised a media engagement to set the tone for national observation of the Sacred Day – “Positive Action which meant the application of constitutional and legitimate means to cripple the imperialist forces in the country,” Mr Bomfeh Jr quoted Osagyefo Dr Nkrumah.
Speaking about the observance of the ‘Constitution Day’ on January 7, he said, the Fourth Republican Constitution despite being the longest to survive in the history of the country was fraught with many fundamental paradoxes, which made any effective function a mirage.
“Today, organisations are messing in our partisan and national lives and in its place disorganised chaos appeared to be taking us hostage. We must evolve a new dynamic people’s party that is conscious of the needs and aspirations of her people and diligently works to meet them,” The CPP Acting Secretary-General said.
The CPP, he said, was declaring a positive action against corruption, as generally, their thinking was warped, corrupted and deeply immersed in unbridled and unrestrained selfishness.
“If as individuals, we shall each exhibit attitudes of non-cooperation, intolerance, abhorrence, disgust and opprobrium to corrupt practices, no matter how pervasive or endemic they may be, we shall succeed. Once we uproot corruption from our daily lives, we shall experience fearless honest lives the national anthem invites us to,” he said.
Mr Bomfeh Jnr called on the public to give the Party a listening ear to enable it to advocate and influence policymaking to enhance their welfare.
Hajia Hamdatu Ibrahim, CPP Acting Chairperson, urged members of the Party not to allow themselves to be used as tools for violence and destruction in the upcoming general election.
“The CPP wants to win power but not through violent means. Violence is not in our DNA as CPP is all about sharing ideas,” she added.
Mr Benard Mornah, the National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention, commended the CPP for its positive and bold step to promote the interest of the citizenry.
He said it is time for the other political parties to save the people from the two major political parties that were taking the people for a setback ‘ride’.