Author: Dr. John Osae-Kwapong, Democracy and Development Fellow, CDD-Ghana, and Project Director, the Democracy Project
Tomorrow, delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will elect the party’s national executives. As Ghana’s democracy matures, party elections continue to draw attention because they do matter, even if the public often may not assume so.
The winners will be the faces and voices of the party, responsible for its everyday operations for the next four years. During their tenure, Ghana will hold its tenth presidential and parliamentary elections since the transition to democracy in 1992.
The election is important for many reasons but one that resonates with me is this – it will show whether the NPP has understood what happened in 2024 and is ready to act on it. Beyond the routine duties of office, I see three tasks ahead of those who will be elected.
First, rehabilitating the party’s image. It is no secret that the party’s standing in the eyes of the public was weak in the lead-up to the 2024 election. Two perceptions captured in the Afrobarometer Round 10 (2024) survey illustrate this. Asked how much they trusted the ruling party, only one in ten Ghanaians (10%) said “a lot.”
Asked how free they felt to say what they think, 57% said “completely free.” That figure was a sharp fall from the 78% recorded in Round 4 in 2008, and it should worry every political party.
A party is not the government, but it is the party that forms the government. Public frustration with the conduct of the government eventually hurt the party at the ballot box. The lesson is that the party’s reputation is tied to how its members behave in office, and the new executives will have to address this.
There is a caution here too. The executives must not rely on the mistakes of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) to win back public goodwill. If the NDC’s missteps cause Ghanaians to rethink how they felt about the NPP in 2024, I have no quarrel with that.
But disappointment with a rival should not be the only strategy. The executives must find ways for the NPP to earn renewed trust on its own merit.
Second, reconciliation. This has two dimensions. The first is internal. I am not suggesting that the party is fractured. However, some of the rhetoric from party members after the 2024 defeat, and again after the 2026 presidential primary, suggests there is still work to do.
Competitive primaries leave bruises, and bruises that linger tend to resurface if not dealt with. The new executives must find ways to keep the party together. This may require showing grace to those who lose and giving them real assurances that they do have a stake in the party’s future.
The second dimension is external. There are Ghanaians who felt unheard especially post the 2020 election. Long before the devastating 2024 election loss, the signals were clear in Afrobarometer Round 9(2022) that Ghanaians were turning against the party.
These Ghanaians will not return because they are asked to. The executives must be intentional about reaching them, and the effort will require honest engagement. It means listening to grievances that may be uncomfortable, acknowledging where the party fell short, and showing through action that lessons have been learned. It will not be quick or easy, but it is worth doing.
Third, and most important, working with the flagbearer. Whatever their individual titles, the executives share one overriding purpose, which is to bring the party back to power. They cannot do this alone, and they cannot do it if they are at odds with the party’s flagbearer.
The party machinery and the flagbearer’s team must operate from the same page, with a shared vision, and a common commitment to winning the 2028 elections. As the delegates cast their votes for the next set of national executives, I hope they elect candidates who can work with the flagbearer’s team and put the party’s larger political objective above their personal ambition.
A word on the choices ahead
Are there particular candidates who I believe are well placed to deliver on these three tasks? Yes, and I hope they win. The latest polls by Global Info Analytics suggest that certain candidates are emerging as favorites in the various races. Opinion polls are strong signals but let’s wait to see what delegates actually do.
To the delegates, I would say this: choose people who have the party at heart, who understand that the NPP’s recovery depends on credibility as much as organization, and who can bring both the party and the wider public along.
The next two years will test the NPP’s ability to renew itself. I wish the party well, and it is my prayer that Saturday’s choices will return the NPP to good standing with the people of Ghana.
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