Justin Kodua Frimpong
The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has directed all prospective parliamentary aspirants, their agents and supporters to immediately cease all campaign activities pending the announcement of the official timetable and guidelines for the party’s parliamentary processes.
A statement issued by the party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, said the directive follows numerous complaints received by the party over reports that some members with parliamentary ambitions have begun campaigning in various constituencies.
This, the statement said, violates the party’s regulations and Code of Conduct.
The directive comes barely a week after the NPP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election, Dr. Mahamamudu Bawumia, said the party has begun a nationwide search for winnable parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2028 general election.
The leadership of the party warned that premature campaigning creates an uneven playing field among prospective aspirants and undermines the unity and discipline necessary for the party’s success.
The party has, therefore, instructed all prospective candidates and their associates to halt every form of campaign activity with immediate effect.
“The Party accordingly directs, with immediate effect, that all prospective parliamentary aspirants, their agents and supporters cease all forms of campaign activities,” it said in a statement.
The NPP further indicated that the prohibition applies to all forms of campaigns, inculding but not limited to the mounting of posters, billboards, banners and other branded campaign materials, as well as the organisation of rallies, meetings with polling station executives and constituency tours intended to solicit support.
The directive also prohibits the distribution of items or other inducements to delegates and party members, alongside paid media and social media advertisements promoting individual candidacies.
“Party officers at the polling station, electoral area, constituency, regional and national levels, TESCON, are forbidden entirely from posting any parliamentary aspirant on any social media platform (Facebook, X, Instagram etc.) or enabling such pre-mature Parliamentary aspirants’ activities,” the statement warned.
The leadership of the NPP warned that any person who disregards the directive will face disciplinary action in accordance with the party’s established procedures “which may affect their eligibility to contest.”
The statenent noted that the NPP will announce the timetable and guidelines for the parliamentary processes in due course.
“Constituency and regional executives are to ensure strict compliance within their jurisdictions. The Party counts on the cooperation of all members,” the statement added.
Winnable Candidates
Dr. Bawumia announced recently that the party is embarking on an exercise aimed at identifying candidates with the best prospects of winning parliamentary seats, rather than relying solely on the outcome of internal primaries.
He said the search would cover constituencies across the country and form part of efforts to ensure that the party presents candidates capable of defeating their opponents in the 2028 elections.
He said the party also intended to organise its parliamentary primaries as soon as possible to bring the internal election process to an end.
Dr. Bawumia said the candidate-selection process would be made as transparent as possible, stressing that financial strength should not be the main consideration in determining who becomes a parliamentary candidate.
“We want to make the process as transparent as possible. On the parliamentary candidate side, what we are trying to do is to do candidate selection across all the constituencies because some people can win parliamentary primaries. After all, they have money, but they cannot win the election,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia explained that the proposed candidate search was intended to address that challenge by providing the party with independent assessments of potential parliamentary candidates.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak