A communications team member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hamza Suhuyini, has noted that the opposition New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) decision to abstain from the Tamale Central by-election is borne out of political expediency.
The decision, he says, is not in the best interest of democracy, as the party would have Ghanaians believe, but rather a populist move to influence the upcoming Akwatia by-election.
His comments come on the back of the NPP’s announcement that the party will not contest the Tamale Central seat, which was held by the late Dr. Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, who died with seven others in the Wednesday, August 6, 2025, military helicopter crash at Adansi Akrofuom in the Ashanti Region.
Earlier, a seat held by the NPP in Akwatia was declared vacant by Parliament after the MP died, and a by-election has been slated for September 2, 2025. With a date yet to be set for the Tamale Central exercise, the NPP has already hinted at abstaining.
Speaking on the Big Issue on the NewDay morning show on TV3 Tuesday, August 12, 2025, Mr. Suhuyini noted that a democratic polity like Ghana is governed by a constitution and not the sentiments of a political party.
“We need to understand that our democracy is regulated by the 1992 Constitution and it is not about the feeling of a political party,” he stated.
He questioned how such decisions would impact the constituents’ right to decide on whom to represent them in Parliament.
“It is about the position of the constitution and the expectation of Ghanaians. So it’s not about the political party deciding to contest or not to contest. The question should be what would be the effect of your decision not to contest on the ability of the good people of this country to make a determined choice going forward, as far as representation is concerned.”
The NPP announced on Wednesday, August 11, 2025, that it will not participate in the forthcoming Tamale Central parliamentary by-election.
In an official statement signed by the Party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, following a National Steering Committee meeting at the NPP headquarters, by Article 10(10)(1) of the Party’s Constitution, it confirmed that the party would not contest the election.
According to the statement, the decision was reached after weighing “the circumstances under which the Tamale Central seat has become vacant and the possibility of a further polarisation of the country at this critical time.”
“It would be inhumane and unconscionable to subject the nation to a competitive process in search of a replacement for the departed MP,” the statement said, adding that “the tension and acrimony often associated with the conduct of by-elections in the country should be avoided.”
The NPP also emphasised that the most fitting way to honour the late MP’s memory was to focus on unity and shared national goals.
“The greatest tribute that the NPP and the rest of the nation can pay in honour of the departed is not only to win the fight against galamsey but also to ensure a smooth and peaceful replacement for the good people of Tamale Central,” the statement continued.
It concluded by stating that, when the Electoral Commission of Ghana opens nominations for the by-election by Article 112(5) of the 1992 Constitution, “the Party will, by the national interest, not take part in the contest.”
This, is what Suhuyini says is not in the best interest of democracy, but rather an approach which contravenes what is spelt out in the 1992 Constitution.
