Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, has attributed the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 electoral defeat to four major categories of internal and governance-related failures.
His remarks, grounded in the findings of the Mike Oquaye Committee, highlighted systemic issues within both government and party structures that undermined public confidence and electoral strength.
The Mike Oquaye Committee, constituted by the NPP to review its performance in the 2024 elections, uncovered key challenges that, according to Hon. Oppong Nkrumah, warrant both reform and constitutional amendment.
He explained that the committee’s introspection exercise, a standard post-election practice by the party, pointed to deep-rooted structural issues this time round.
“There were issues of governance policy, particularly on the economy. The majority of people said they either didn’t vote or voted against us because of their view that we had not been able to resolve the economic challenges robustly enough in their opinion”
Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, MP for Ofoase Ayirebi
Beyond macroeconomic concerns, the party’s internal corporate governance was flagged as a major liability. The committee’s findings revealed breakdowns in management structures and accountability across several levels of the party.
“You’ll find that at this level in the party, this person is not available, this person is supposed to take over, or this person is acting in a particular way and has to be disciplined. So corporate governance within the party had its own challenges”
Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, MP for Ofoase Ayirebi
The report further identified operational confusion over roles, authority, and execution – factors that hampered coordination at critical moments.
A fourth pillar of concern was a widespread perception of exclusion from the party’s decision-making process. Hon. Oppong Nkrumah indicated that many members, especially at the grassroots, felt sidelined, leading to a “disconnect between leadership and the broader party base.”
Constitutional Amendments
In response to the committee’s findings, the NPP initiated a reform process, inviting over 300 proposals from members.
These were subsequently refined into 56 motions and one transitional motion, all of which were submitted for consideration at the party’s National Delegates Conference.
“We did focus group discussions and consultations with key groups in the party,” he said. Hon. Oppong Nkrumah clarified that while some proposed reforms could be executed without changing the party’s constitution, others required formal amendments to institutionalise the lessons drawn from the 2024 loss.
Addressing tensions within the party, the Ofoase Ayirebi MP also responded to a viral video involving former President John Agyekum Kufuor, which suggested he had been sidelined by the party’s current leadership. Oppong Nkrumah dismissed the video as deceptive and selectively edited.
“That video is a controversial video. Go and watch that video and make a judgment for yourself whether it is the full words that he spoke or whether it has been truncated for a particular purpose”
Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, MP for Ofoase Ayirebi
He criticised internal actors using such media to stoke division within the party, describing it as dangerous and unnecessary. “There’s not a single council meeting we have gone to that we have not invited former President Kufuor,” he added.
The controversy over the video comes amid growing unease about the absence of both former Presidents Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the party’s July 19 National Delegates Conference.
While some see this as a signal of disunity, others, like Hon. Oppong Nkrumah, maintain that such narratives are exaggerated or deliberately manufactured.
As the party prepares for a future comeback, internal reform remains a central agenda item. The leadership hopes that acknowledging and addressing structural failures – from economic management to internal governance – will restore trust among supporters and the wider electorate.
“We have started a process of reform,” Hon. Oppong Nkrumah noted. “This is about learning and improving.”
The NPP’s future, by his account, depends on its ability to bridge internal gaps and rebuild consensus.
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