The writer
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), historically revered as a bastion of intra-party democracy and constitutional governance in Ghana, appears to be executing a retrogressive manoeuvre.
As the party prepares to select its parliamentary standard-bearers for the crucial 2028 general election, its leadership seems intent on compromising the very values and foundational principles that once defined its identity.
Rather than adhering to the time-tested, egalitarian tradition of opening nominations to all qualified aspirants, the party leadership, through recent official circulars and a press conference convened by the General Secretary, is introducing a dubious and unprecedented political experiment.
While dynamic change and innovation are vital to organisational growth, new mechanisms must be approached with the utmost prudence.
Political wisdom dictates a simple truth: you do not reinvent the wheel when nothing is broken.
Mechanics of Exclusion
To fully understand the gravity of the current tension, one must examine the backdrop of the NPP’s recent history.
Following a bruising defeat in the 2024 general election, the party lost its parliamentary majority and was reduced to a fragile minority caucus of just 87 Members of Parliament (MPs).
Rather than undertaking genuine introspection, implementing meaningful reforms and rebuilding grassroots confidence, the party’s national leadership appears to have embarked on a heavy-handed bureaucratic strategy that risks insulating incumbents from competition.
Under this newly hatched, regimented framework, party members aspiring to contest the upcoming parliamentary primaries face a draconian, multi-tiered process.
Pre-declaration of intent: Aspirants must first submit a formal declaration of their intention to contest to the party’s national secretariat.
Bureaucratic vetting: Aspirants must undergo mandatory vetting before they are even permitted to campaign actively or engage delegates.
Mandatory orientation and assessment: Those who are vetted must attend a party-run academy for political orientation and an assessment of their suitability.
To characterise this cumbersome and exclusionary process as anything short of unthinkable, autocratic and deeply anti-democratic would be an understatement.
The contrast is stark:
- Traditional open nomination process
- Equal access for all qualified aspirants, followed by a vote by grassroots delegates.
- Proposed 2028 bureaucratic framework
- Declaration of intent, preliminary vetting, academy assessment and, ultimately, the risk of a process that favours incumbent MPs over challengers.
Incumbent Protection
Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana sets out the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of Parliament.
Why, then, is the NPP hierarchy manufacturing what appear to be unnecessary, coercive and bureaucratic hurdles for its own members seeking to contest parliamentary primaries?
The overarching objective appears transparent: to engineer a slate of unopposed candidates and shield the 87 incumbent MPs from democratic accountability.
This protective posture raises fundamental questions about performance and merit.
Where Is the Accountability?
If incumbent MPs have served diligently, honoured their campaign promises and aligned their work with the aspirations of their constituents, why shield them from democratic contestation?
What legacy are we protecting?
Beyond taking partisan positions on legislative issues and participating in parliamentary walkouts, what extraordinary legislative achievements have these 87 MPs recorded to warrant any special protection from internal competition?
These are legitimate questions that the party leadership must confront rather than dismiss.
The Danger of Entitlement
Shielding lawmakers from primary contests rewards complacency and insulates them from the very constituents they were elected to serve.
If the national leadership genuinely believes that protecting incumbents serves the party’s strategic interests, it should state its position forthrightly and subject it to open debate rather than erect administrative barriers designed to disqualify challengers by stealth.
A political party that prides itself on internal democracy cannot afford to adopt procedures that undermine the confidence of its own members in the fairness of its candidate selection process.
Political Backlash
The national executive must recognise that it cannot arbitrarily disenfranchise party loyalists who meet the applicable constitutional, statutory and party requirements to contest parliamentary primaries.
By persisting with this archaic, regimented and deeply flawed scheme ahead of the nomination window scheduled for November 1 to 10, 2026, the party risks inviting a wave of litigation that could further deepen internal divisions.
Furthermore, this heavy-handed approach ignores the political maturity of the NPP’s grassroots constituency.
NPP delegates across the country’s constituencies have repeatedly demonstrated sound judgement, political discernment and tactical wisdom at the ballot box.
Attempting to handpick candidates or impose incumbents from the top down grossly underestimates the intelligence of the grassroots base.
A stitch in time saves nine. Attempting to bypass the delegates’ democratic mandate will not consolidate power; it will shatter the party’s foundation.
Democratic Integrity
The NPP leadership stands at a critical crossroads.
The ill-conceived strategy to gag aspirants and coddle incumbents could inevitably fuel widespread apathy, bitter factionalism and irreparable divisions within the party’s electoral base.
The grassroots membership of the NPP is far too discerning to accept dictated outcomes from national officers whose authority rests on positions that are neither permanent nor beyond accountability.
The party executive must immediately shelve this backward, autocratic ploy and restore an open, transparent and unhindered primary process.
If the system is not broken, the NPP must refrain from destructive tinkering.
Let the delegates decide!
By Michael Ofosu-Afriyie, Deputy Managing Editor of Daily Banner Newspaper
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