When the elephant descended upon Legon
By last Friday afternoon, my red, white and blue ‘fugu’ and my ‘I love NPP’ neck sarf were in place for storming the University of Ghana sports stadium the next day for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP’s) National Delegates Conference.
I could not find my ancient NPP-branded vuvuzela, but I was sure I could buy one on arrival.
I had spoken to a couple of friends I have not seen in months and we agreed to meet there.
I did not have accreditation to get into the stadium proper, but that was not going to stop me from turning up to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy myself on the periphery.
Alas, man proposes but God disposes, and late the previous night, my plan for the day went up in smoke and smithereens because something else came up, leaving my attire hanging rather forlornly in my wardrobe for another day.
Eventually, like many, I ended up monitoring events via television and online portals.
Conference dynamics
Perhaps the first thing that struck me about the event was the lively carnival atmosphere, with plenty of smiles and hearty exchanges of greetings among friends, and a riot of blue, red, and white party flags and banners fluttering in the breeze.
It was hard to tell that this was a party that just seven months or so ago was reduced to rubble at the ballot box, sending many into gloomy despair.
Well, I suppose that one cannot mourn forever, and for most in the party, I believe the five standard stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance — have been played out in their entirety, perhaps becoming one of those traumatic events that with time, one looks back at with almost perversely fond memories.
It would take a political neophyte to ignore an obvious fact — that this event was also an audition for the party’s presidential primary slated for January 31 next year.
From Mr Kennedy Agyapong turning up in an open-topped vehicle and responding to cheers by his supporters, whilst signalling the need for change through hand gestures, to Dr Bawumia stepping out with his wife and to cheers among his supporters, there was no doubt that this was indeed a not-too-subtle campaign drive ahead of what promises to be an interesting election over the next few months.
On “Facebook”, I noted that some of Mr Agyapong’s supporters appeared miffed that among the likely candidates for the presidential primaries, only Dr Bawumia got to address the conference.
But whilst I can appreciate their irritation over what they believe is an unfair advantage to Dr Bawumia, I think, respectfully, that they should pipe down a little.
Dr Bawumia is a former Vice-President of the Republic, no less. I believe it was not out of place for him to address the event in that capacity.
Perhaps, that is the ‘fringe benefit’ he gets from the high office he once held.
The suggestion that he should either not have been allowed to speak or that all the other potential candidates should have been allowed to speak is a misplaced one, in my view, especially since this was not, at least formally, a campaign event, and officially, the party does not have any candidates on record.
After all, there is sufficient time for all potential candidates to put their case to the delegates who will make the ultimate decision in January 2026.
Key reforms, journey ahead
Now to the serious business of the conference.
Out of 56 constitutional amendment motions presented at the conference, 54 were approved, with two notable rejections.
Motion 17, which sought to amend Article 7(30) of the NPP constitution, proposed empowering Regional Executive Committees to appoint individuals — excluding Polling Station, Electoral Area and Constituency Officers — to supervise polling station and electoral area elections.
It was soundly (and I believe, rightly) rejected as an attempted interference with the autonomy of local party structures.
Motion 54 also suffered a similar fate. It proposed an amendment to Article 15(4) of the constitution to redefine “youth” in the party as any member “not above the age of 35,” aligning with international and national standards.
The party currently sets the youth ceiling at 39. Personally, I find it risible that a 39-year-old would proudly tout himself or herself as ‘youth’, but then maybe some seek solace in the notion that ‘life begins at 40’.
The approved motions included election of communication officers and the Director of Communications, expansion of the Electoral College for presidential primary, creation of Regional Steering Committees and resignation of national party officers and political appointees who are interested in parliamentary seats that are occupied by the NPP, among many others.
The journey to December 2028 is no doubt perilous, with many concerned about a potential post-presidential primary schism if it is not managed properly. That would be catastrophic for the party.
Whilst constitutional amendments on the back of the 54 approved motions are a good start, they constitute just the ‘skeletal framework’ of reforms, and thus, only a preparatory step on the road to rejuvenation.
Perhaps, more critically, the NPP needs lots of healing and deep soul-searching, including managing fragile egos away from the cameras.
That, essentially, is the flesh it badly needs to sit on top of what was approved.
As the main opposition, the party has a solemn duty to be strong and fit for our fledgling democracy.
The warming scenes I saw from the comfort of my living room on Saturday give me the hope that this political tradition, which has gone through several catastrophic challenges in the past, will soon bounce back from the political doldrums.
Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng.
E-mail: rodboat@yahoo.com
