The New Patriotic Party (NPP), historically revered as a bastion of intra-party democracy and constitutional governance in Ghana, appears to be executing a retrograde maneuver.
As the party prepares to select its parliamentary candidates for the crucial 2028 General Elections, its leadership seems intent on compromising the very values and foundational tenets that once defined its identity.
Rather than adhering to the time-tested, egalitarian tradition of opening nominations to all qualified aspirants, the 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 for organizational growth, novel mechanisms must be approached with utmost prudence. Political wisdom dictates a simple truth: you do not reinvent the wheel when nothing is broken.
Mechanics of Exclusion
To fully appreciate 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 Elections, the party was stripped of its parliamentary m ajority and reduced to a fragile minority caucus of just 87 Members of Parliament (MPs).
Rather than undertaking genuine introspective reform and rebuilding grassroots confidence, the newly constituted national executive, spearheaded by National Chairman John Boadu, has embarked on a heavy-handed, bureaucratic strategy to insulate incumbents.
Under this newly hatched framework, party members aspiring to contest the upcoming parliamentary primaries are subjected to a draconian, multi-tiered barrier:
1. Pre-Declaration of Intent: Aspirants must first submit a formal application of intent to the central secretariat.
2. Bureaucratic Vetting: Aspirants must undergo mandatory vetting before they are even permitted to campaign or engage delegates.
3. Mandatory Orientation & Assessment: Those vetted must attend a party-run academy for political “orientation” and an arbitrary suitability evaluation.
To describe this cumbersome and exclusionary process as anything short of unthinkable, autocratic, and deeply anti-democratic would be an understatement.
Traditional Open Nomination Process:
Equal Access for All Qualified Aspirants → Grassroots Delegate Vote
Proposed 2028 Bureaucratic Framework:
Intent Screening → Pre-Vetting → Academy Assessment → Handpicked Incumbent Protection
Incumbent Protection
Under Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, any citizen of sound mind, appropriate age, and without a criminal record has the fundamental right to seek parliamentary office.
Why, then, is the NPP hierarchy manufacturing such ludicrous, coercive, and bureaucratic hurdles? The overarching objective is 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 dutifully, honoured their pledges, and aligned with the aspirations of their constituencies, why shield them from democratic contestation?
What Legacy Are We Protecting?
Beyond posturing on legislative issues and engaging in partisan walkouts, what extraordinary legislative triumphs have these 87 MPs achieved to warrant automatic protection?
Danger of Entitlement: Shielding lawmakers from primary battles 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 interest, it should state so forthrightly and debate the matter openly, rather than erecting insidious administrative barriers designed to disqualify challengers by stealth.
Political Backlash
The national executive must recognize that it cannot arbitrarily disenfranchise party loyalists who fulfil the constitutional and statutory requirements to contest elections.
By persisting with this archaic, regimented, and deeply flawed scheme ahead of the nomination window scheduled for November 1 to November 10, 2026, the party is practically inviting a destructive avalanche of litigation.
Furthermore, this heavy-handed approach ignores the political maturity of the NPP’s core constituency. NPP delegates across the country’s 275 constituencies have repeatedly demonstrated sound judgment, political discernment, and tactical wisdom at the ballot box.
Attempting to handpick candidates or impose incumbents from the top 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 will inevitably ignite widespread apathy, bitter factionalism, and irreparable fissures across its electoral base.
The grassroots membership of the NPP remains far too discerning to accept dictated outcomes from national officers who hold office by virtue of temporary privilege.
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, Political Publicist.
