New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates at the party’s highest decision-making conference have voted to expand the electoral college by 40 per cent.
The vote has effectively expanded the party’s electoral college, adding more than 60,000 polling station executives to the existing 220,000, enlarging the size of the voters to more than 280,000.
This means all former Members of Parliament (MPs), former parliamentary candidates, former Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs), card-holding former ministers and deputy ministers, as well as former regional, constituency and branch executives will participate in the election of the flag bearer in January 2026.
However, delegates at the polling station, constituency and regional levels, who are now part of the enlarged electoral college, will not be eligible to vote in the January 2026 election when the party goes to elect a flag bearer for the 2028 general election.
This is because the election of those officers will be done after March 2026, following the conclusion of the current tenure of the polling station, constituency and regional level executive.
For instance, at the constituency and regional levels, the party currently has one officer in charge of elections or research whose tenure will expire in March 2026.
This position has now been decoupled in the vote that expanded the electoral college, meaning that after March 2026, there will be two separate officers — one for elections and another for research—enhancing the electoral college structure.
No special delegates
Additionally, there will not be a special delegates’ conference to narrow down the number of candidates contesting for the flagbearer position to five in the event of multiple candidates.
Instead, all candidates, regardless of the number, will be allowed to participate in the election of a flag bearer.
Motions
These reforms were among 56 motions presented for adoption to amend the party’s constitution during the Extraordinary National Delegates Conference in Accra last Saturday.
Voting was conducted by voice, with supporters of the motions shouting “YES” and opponents responding “NO.”
Two out of the 54 motions were rejected, including one that sought to redefine a youth in the party as a member “not above the age of 35 years,” thus maintaining the existing defin
The second motion, which proposed allowing constituencies to directly participate in compiling albums for polling station elections, was outrightly rejected by the delegates.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Secretary to the Constitution Review Committee of the NPP, Iddi Muhayu-Deen, stated that the constitutional amendments were to reform and strengthen the party’s internal processes
Following the conference’s approval, he indicated that the committee’s focus would shift to incorporating these changes into the constitution, marking a significant step forward for the NPP.
“This will set the stage for the upcoming presidential primaries scheduled for next year, ensuring a more inclusive and representative electoral process within the party,” Mr Muhayu-Deen, who is also a legal practitioner, said.
He added that the NPP planned to gradually transition to a one-member, one-vote system, with implementation targeted for the 2028 elections, once a robust foundational framework was established.
A former National Chairman of the party, Peter Mac Manu, who is a proponent of the expunction from the party’s constitution Article 13 (1) (9) on special delegates to prune down the number of flagbearer aspirants to five, expressed satisfaction with the conference’s outcome.
“It was good for various constituencies to meet their counterparts from other parts of the country. And the whole conference has been a successful one,” he told the Daily Graphic.
Mr Mac Manu said the conference’s decisions would be compiled into a report, which would be used to amend the party’s constitution.
The amended constitution will then be signed by the National Chairman and the General Secretary, and copies will be sent to the Electoral Commission and distributed to party branches and constituencies.
“There is going to be a report on it because there is a secretary who took notes on the motions, those that were accepted. So, we are going to compile them and bring them back for the General Secretary to put them in the form of a new amended version of the constitution,” Mr Mac Manu explained.
He added that the amended constitution would be implemented after the necessary procedures had been completed.
Commendation
For his part, a former Northern Regional Minister, Salifu Saeed, praised the party’s leadership and delegates for their hard work and dedication for a successful conference.
“The conference was very successful, even beyond the expectations of the delegates. Our wish was that it starts and ends successfully,” he said.
He said the amendments to the party’s constitution would strengthen and consolidate democratic practices within the NPP, which would have a positive impact on the national platform.
He specifically highlighted the addition of former MMDCEs, ministers, and other former party executives to the party’s electoral college, saying it would help broaden participation and ensure that party members have a greater say in the selection of leaders.
The former Bui Power Authority’s Board member under former President Akufo-Addo administration commended the NPP leadership for setting a precedent that other parties may follow.
He said that the party’s broad-based nature and commitment to democratic principles would help it regain the trust of Ghanaians and elect the right leaders.
“I believe strongly that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) too will want to emulate it, and our party, the NPP, is a broad-based party.
And all these go to demonstrate the fact that even though we lost the 2024 general election, we are very resolved and determined to do what is right and energise the base of the party and broaden the participation level of party members,” he said.
A former MP for Mion also in the Northern Region, Musah Abdul-Aziz Ayaba, said the decision by conference to shoot down the age limit for the position of youth organiser was in the right direction as he rallied people against it.
He said with that exercise, the party was poised to recapture power in the 2028 general election.
Mr Abdul-Aziz also hailed the decision to include former MPs as delegates.
Background
The nine-member Constitution Amendment Committee, led by Frank Davies, was formed by the National Council of the party to review and propose amendments to the party’s constitution.
The committee members include the Deputy Minority Leader and MP for Asokwa, Patricia Appiagyei; MP for Ofoase Ayiribi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; a Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, the Volta Regional Chairman of the NPP, and Makafui Woanyah.
The rest are a former Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Diana Asonaba Dapaah; a former MP for Ablekuma Central, Ebenezer Nartey, and a medical officer, Dr Ekua Amoakoh.
Mr Muhayu-Deen served as secretary to the committee.
The committee’s mandate included identifying provisions of the party’s constitution that require amendments to give effect to the recommendations of the Mike Oquaye Election Review Committee; working on the recommendations of the 2021 Constitutional Review Committee, chaired by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority Leader, and receiving proposals for constitutional amendments from party members and identifiable groups.
The committee was also tasked to categorise proposals under various Articles and Clauses for ease of reference, and make appropriate recommendations to guide the debate at the National Annual Delegates Conference.
The committee’s report was consequently tabled in amendment motions, which were the subject of the votes at the party’s delegates conference last Saturday.
Source: graphic.com
