Former Ghana School of Law Director, Kwaku Ansa-Asare, has criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP), saying it has strayed from its founding values and is now fractured and leaderless.
In a critique on TV3’s KeyPoints, Ansa-Asare accused the party of abandoning its core tradition of “development in freedom” and respect for the rule of law, values he says once defined the NPP’s identity.
“The NPP tradition is anchored on leadership. But today, the party has no leader. It is a party of dismemberment, of lawlessness,” he declared on June 28.
“Everyone wants to be a chairman, a general secretary, and a presidential candidate all at once. The structure is broken,” he noted.
Drawing on the party’s historical norms, Ansa-Asare cited the 1992 elections, noting that those who lost leadership contests were traditionally expected to return to the bottom of the queue does not remain at the top.
He took a jab at former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who led the NPP into the 2024 general elections and lost.
“In the NPP tradition, once you lose an election, you go back. You are no longer at the front. That is the rule,” he said.
He lamented the absence of respected elder statesmen within the party names like B.J. Da Rocha, Peter Ala Adjetey, Odoi Sykes, and Haruna Esseku who he said once kept order and provided direction.
“Now everyone is a leader. There’s no authoritative voice. There’s no order. And without order, the party is sinking into an abyss,” he warned.
“Unless the NPP returns to its founding values and restores proper leadership, it will continue to collapse. One day, there may be no NPP left.”
In a related development, a renowned stalwart of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kobina Arthur Kennedy has revealed that he has heard from the grapevine that former President JA Kufuor has advised ex-President Akufo-Addo to apologise to Ghanaians.
He said the suggested apology is to atone for the hardship imposed on Ghanaians during the tenure of the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration.
“I have heard from the grapevine that President Kuffour has suggested to President Akufo-Addo to apologise to Ghanaians. This is an advice I agree with. He must apologise,” Mr Arthur Kennedy said on TV3’s KeyPoints on June 28.
Mr Kennedy said this while contributing to discussions on the topic- NPP’s Internal Elections.
According to the former NPP flagbearer aspirant, he agrees with the suggestion because, during President Akufo-Addo’s reign, “There was impunity, there was corruption, there was arrogance of power, there was hardship.”
He comments come after former President Kuffour asked pertinent questions at the inaugural ceremony for the Patriotic Institute.
“How come our fortunes have been dwindling since 2016, 2020 and now our current state?” Ex President Kufuor asked.
In response, Mr Kennedy pointed to the severe hardship Ghanaians faced an the non-charlant attitude adopted by the President Akufo-Addo government.
“The electorates endured all that and decided to give them the sack during the election,” he said.
Contributing to the same topic, a former Director at the Ghana School of Law, Mr Kwaku Ansah-Asare said the NPP has lost its shine.
“The NPP, as we speak has no leader. There is a chairman who claims to be indisposed so everybody wants to be a leader. We need people loke the late BJ Da Rocha or Peter Ala Adjetey, with authoritative voices to put everybody in order. They have lost the basic ideology of the party,” he stated.
The NPP has slated January 31, 2026 to hold its flagbearer election. This is contrary to the provisions of its constitution which provide for the election of national, regional and constituency officers before electing a flagbearer.
This has stirred controversy among party faithful and political analysts.
Touching on the qualities of a good flagbeaer for the party at the inauguration of the Patriotic Institute, ex-President Kufuor stressed the importance of selecting a candidate who can resonate with the broader Ghanaian electorate and offer practical solutions to national issues.
“It is one man, one vote, and if we want power, we have to present a person who will be convincing to the generality of the electorate,” he noted.
“We need to ask ourselves: will this man we are presenting help solve the problems of the community at large so the benefits spread across the board?”
He warned that indulging in identity-based rhetoric, especially from within the party, only reinforces negative labels from political opponents.
“The way we’ve been brushed as a tribal party — and now even religion is being included — if that comes from our own mouths, then I tell you, we are the ones perpetuating it,” Kufuor cautioned.
