Joseph Osei-Owusu
Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Presidential Elections Committee (PEC), Joseph Osei-Owusu, has rejected petitions from external branches challenging the ban on proxy voting in the upcoming 2026 presidential primaries of the party.
In a petition dated November 10, 2025 and signed by chairpersons of 30 external branches, the group described the directive as “unconstitutional, discriminatory”, and a direct attempt to disenfranchise legitimate delegates who live and work outside Ghana.
The group also argued that the Presidential Elections Committee overstepped its mandate by unilaterally announcing that “there shall be no proxy voting” for the presidential primaries in January.
But addressing the media following a meeting with flagbearer aspirants at the party’s headquarters yesterday in Accra, Chairman of the Presidential Elections Committee, Mr. Joseph Osei-Owusu, said the restriction will remain in force to safeguard the credibility and smooth conduct of the polls.
According to him, the committee had carefully reviewed various appeals but concluded that lifting the ban on proxy vote could complicate the electoral process and may result in disputes.
He stated, “We have listened to all kinds of petition, we have read the petitions presented by sections of the party, and after listening to all that, we came to a conclusion that for the sake of conducting an election that is incident-free, respected, a very credible election, that provision or ban should be maintained. We will still not have proxy voting in this 2026 presidential primaries, that position should be maintained.”
The party first announced the ban earlier this year, raising concern among members of the party as well as some students abroad who believe the decision disenfranchises them contrary to the provisions of Article 8 of the party’s constitution, which recognises the branches and grants them full participatory rights in internal elections.
The petitioners argued that proxy voting is the only feasible mechanism that would provide them opportunity to participate in the election, as they cannot be physically present.
The group further mentioned that the party has successfully implemented proxy voting in previous presidential primaries and national executive elections, and are therefore surprised why it cannot consider proxy voting.
Mr. Osei-Owusu still insisted that preserving this rule would help prevent challenges that may arise due to logistical challenges as well as enhance the credibility of the polls.
As part of the Elections Committee’s mandate to conduct a credible and transparent election, the committee presented a soft copy of the party’s provisional voters register containing delegates eligible to vote in the January 31 presidential primaries to all the flagbearer aspirants.
Flagbearer aspirants present at the meeting to receive the provisional register include former Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, former Minister for Education and MP for Bosomtwe, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, and a former secretary of the party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong.
Fred Oware, one of the stalwarts of the party, received the provisional register on behalf of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, while lawyer and former MP for Asante Akyem North, Andy Appiah-Kubi also received the register on behalf of former Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Bryan Acheampong.
Mr. Osei-Owusu, who encouraged the aspirants to go through the register extensively, also appealed to them to submit their concerns, if there are any, for corrections to be made before it is submitted to the various constituencies for exhibition ahead of the election in January.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah