Political analyst Dr. Kwasi Amakye-Boateng has strongly criticised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over its recent posture regarding judicial matters in Ghana, describing the party’s conduct as biased and self-interested.
According to him, the NPP’s reaction to recent developments, including President John Dramani Mahama’s judicial nominations, reveals a pattern of political expediency rather than national interest.
“When all of us saw that there’s something terribly wrong with the inclusion of a politically exposed person into the Electoral Commission, we all cried out – NPP kept quiet as a party, they kept quiet”
Dr. Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, Political Analyst
Dr. Amakye-Boateng made a direct assessment of the party’s selective engagement with national concerns, accusing the NPP of hypocrisy, pointing to the party’s silence during previous controversial national decisions under their own administration.
He questioned the basis on which the NPP now seeks to object to judicial changes when, in his view, they failed to act in Ghana’s interest on similar matters in the past.
Political Inconsistency
Dr. Amakye-Boateng cited the Ken Ofori-Atta controversy as a case in point.
“When sometime back, the opposition of the day pointed out that Ken Ofori-Atta was mismanaging the economy, NPP initially came on board, retreated, and then they folded up”
Dr. Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, Political Analyst
He argued that though the NPP initially recognised the finance minister’s mismanagement they retreated once political consequences became apparent. He noted that the party took no meaningful action until public pressure made the minister’s position untenable.
He challenged the credibility of the NPP’s current opposition to changes within the judiciary, questioning whether the party had demonstrated a consistent record of acting in the “supreme interest” of the country.
“If the answer is yes, then we can take whatever submission they come up with now seriously. If the answer is no, then we rubbish it”
Dr. Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, Political Analyst
“They are being political,” he said, cautioning against taking the party’s submissions and objections today seriously, given their track record of repeatedly failing the national interest test.
Interest Over National Commitment
The analyst linked the party’s stance on judicial appointments, particularly around the Chief Justice, to self-preservation. According to him, the NPP’s actions suggest that certain individuals within the judiciary are seen as allies whose removal may jeopardise party interests.
He noted that this perception has coloured the party’s response to changes initiated by President Mahama.
“What is playing out is about their interest. They are simply indicating that they have an interest in certain individuals continuously being in the judiciary”
Dr. Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, Political Analyst
He described the current developments as a replay of past episodes, including the replacement of the Majority Leader during the NPP administration, where internal party disagreements were quickly buried.
“Somewhere along the line, the same NPP, when they replaced the Majority Leader of the day with the current Minority Leader, Afenyo-Markin, the party was sort of divided. It became public, I saw it – the Honorable Joseph Osei Owusu spoke and then they folded up once again”
Dr. Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, Political Analyst
Dr. Amakye-Boateng stressed that the party’s behaviour reveals an inability to sustain a principled position, making their current objections suspicious. “When people behave like that, you can’t trust them,” he added.
Ghana’s Political Divide
The analyst took a broader view of the situation, asserting that Ghana’s primary political challenge is not institutional design but the entrenched political interests that shape all decisions.
“The problem we have in Ghana is not our institutions. It’s not the way the Council of State has been structured to be put in place. The problem we have is the interest with which we go into politics”
Dr. Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, Political Analyst
He explained that political actors often act to preserve “specific political traditions” rather than promote national unity or well-being.
Dr. Amakye-Boateng warned that no constitution, no matter how well designed, could sustain the country if political interests continue to override a shared sense of national purpose. He argued that the failure to prioritise collective interests has hampered Ghana’s economic progress under the Fourth Republic.
“The Fourth Republic so far appears to be doing well politically but economically, we aren’t getting anywhere,” he concluded.
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