Swift reaction

But in a swift reaction, the CPP has described the former President’s assertion as “half-truths, twisted logic and a rendition of pedestrian understanding of the country’s political history.’’

President Kufuor went further to state that the Osagyefo built a prison purposely for political opponents and that democracy was virtually killed and the hitherto unseen and unknown levels of poverty in the country led to the 1966 coup d’état, thereby justifying that vile anti-constitutional act of treason.

Reacting to the comments in a statement signed by the National Chairman and Leader of the CPP, Prof. Edmund N. Delle, he noted that as a Ghanaian, former president Kufuor was within his rights to comment on the political history of Ghana.

Propaganda

The CPP statement described the comments as quite unfortunate  and sad and that as a citizen and former President, ‘’he goes down a lane of propaganda, half-truths, twisted logic and a rendition of a pedestrian understanding of our history in front of foreigners.’’

The statement asked whether before 1951, there was democracy under colonial rule in the Gold Coast, adding that it was the result of the efforts of Nkrumah and the CPP and others who fought for and achieved universal adult suffrage for the ordinary men and women, which led to the achievement of internal self-government followed by political independence in 1957 and full sovereignty as a republic in 1960.

It said all this while, elections were held and the CPP consistently won the presidential contest of 1960 when the people of Ghana voted for a republic and Dr Nkrumah as its President.

It said Ghana again held a referendum in 1965 for a one-party state while Parliament existed from 1951 right up to 1966.

The statement further said at the same time the Ashanti Pioneer, the Echo and other anti-government newspapers existed till the law proscribed them for anti-state activities.

Query

It also queried who introduced political violence into this country, saying ‘’was it not a tribal grouping called the National Liberation's Movement which metamorphosed into the United Party (UP) of which Kufuor himself belonged to.

The statement said: ‘’We the members of the CPP are not really surprised, the New Patriotic Party NPP and its antecedence of UP, the Progress Party, and their other surrogates have never changed or hidden their contempt for the people of this country.

“If it is not them, then it is no one and nothing good could, have been or can be done by anyone else, said it added that it was the same thinking which tried to devalue our history by claiming that independence struggle started with the Aborigines Rights Protection Society in the 1890s.