The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has launched the Patriotic Institute at its headquarters, a mandatory training initiative aimed at grooming and educating its political aspirants and officeholders.
According to the party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the program will be a prerequisite for all presidential and parliamentary aspirants and elected and appointed executives across all levels of the party.
“Participation in the mandatory foundation program will be a prerequisite for all elected and appointed executives at national, regional, constituency and polling station levels. It will also be compulsory for all presidential, parliamentary aspirants and candidates”
Justin Kodua Frimpong, NPP General Secretary
He added that party officers, including communicators and functionaries at every level, must also undergo the training. Certificates of completion, he stated, will form part of the qualification criteria for those seeking executive roles or party appointments.
This measure, the General Secretary indicated, was designed to ensure that party representatives align with the values and vision of the NPP.
Training Structure and Expertise
The Patriotic Institute will run two categories of programmes. The first comprises foundational programmes which are mandatory, while the second consists of specialised programmes to meet specific needs at particular times.
“The delivery of training programs will be through in-person workshops and retreats, online courses and mobile learning portals, mentorship and leadership exchange programs, stories and shared experiences, group discussions with guided facilitation, simulation exercise and role play”
Justin Kodua Frimpong, NPP General Secretary
To decentralise the training to allow every interested participant to join, the Institute will set up regional training centres. “The delivery and facilitation will be standardized and similar in all regions,” Mr. Kodua noted, explaining that these centres will also conduct sessions concurrently.
The Patriotic Institute will draw on a diverse pool of facilitators including former Members of Parliament (MP), Ministers, deputy Ministers, party executives, elders, patrons, former appointees, and professionals from academia, civil society, and international organisations.
These individuals will serve as facilitators, lecturers, and researchers for the Institute, bringing their rich knowledge and experience to bear on the party’s efforts at officially enriching its members and representatives.
Mr. Kodua emphasised that the quality of facilitators and curriculum is essential to the mission of the Institute. The objective, he said, is to ensure that the values and traditions of the NPP are “properly transferred to the next generation of political leaders.”
The Patriotic Institute has established a dedicated website that outlines its programmes, structure, and operations. Interested party members and the general public can access details of the training and application processes online.
Mission of the Institute
Describing the Institute’s launch as a significant step, Mr. Kodua offered special thanks to the party’s former National Chairman, Freddie Blay, and the former General Secretary, John Boadu, for their leadership in initiating the concept.
“Today, as our great party launches the Patriotic Institute, a premier party training school to serve as an agent to propagate our ideology, traditions and values, to educate, groom and mentor political leaders, and to strengthen our grassroots empowerment, I am deeply appreciative of the solid foundation put in by my predecessors who envisaged this great initiative”
Justin Kodua Frimpong, NPP General Secretary
He also acknowledged the work of the committee led by Professor Ebow Bondzie-Simpson formed under their administration towards the establishment of the party training centre.
“The foundational ideas worked by this committee have been incorporated and some members of the committee are actively engaged in the current working group of the Patriotic Institute”
Justin Kodua Frimpong, NPP General Secretary
The NPP leadership maintained that this move affirms the party’s ideological identity and policy focus. Mr. Kodua stressed, “the NPP party has consistently demonstrated a commitment to democratic values, liberal economic thoughts and inclusive development.”
The Institute, by setting high standards for training and grooming, aims to deepen internal party democracy and improve policy articulation, especially at a time when the party seeks unity and strength more than ever.
With the initiative now active, the NPP has become one of the few political organisations in Ghana that has made political education and ideological training mandatory.
READ MORE: Chamber of Mines, GRA Strengthen Partnership for Fiscal Compliance
