NDC is 33 years old
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is thirty-three years old.
The party emerged when the ban on political parties was lifted as part of activities leading to democratic transition in Ghana.
The party has emerged as one of the two dominant political parties in Ghana’s Fourth Republic and has succeeded in winning five (1992, 1996, 2008, 2012 and 2024) out of the nine elections held so far.
It has also spent an equal number of years (16) both as the ruling and as the main opposition party.
Their main political rival is the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Thirty-three years later, here are my three key points of reflection.
Anti-intellectual stereotype
In 1992, when the party presented the late President Jerry John Rawlings as its candidate for the election, I recall watching the programme with my family.
The stadium was filled and the crowd was electrifying.
In response to a positive comment about the crowd size and the enthusiasm on display, a cousin turned and in derision said, “people who have gone to school don’t support the NDC.”
This is a loose translation of the words she spoke in Twi.
This narrative, that the party is not a place for “intellectuals”, has been repeated over the years and weaponised by their main political rivals with a good degree of success, leading to a stereotyping of the party.
But I often wondered, though, how a party with recognisable names in law, political science, economics, literature, science, history, etc., became susceptible to such a stereotype.
In any case, stereotypes do not always endure but it takes a conscious effort on the part of those being stereotyped to help change the narrative.
Fairly or unfairly, that is the reality of how groups have had to bear the burden of dealing with stereotypes.
Shifting political landscape?
In the Afrobarometer survey, Ghanaians are asked about their party affiliation. It is a two-part question that first asks – “do you feel close to any particular political party?”
For those who answer “Yes”, the follow-up question is “which party?”
In 1999, the maiden round of the survey, more Ghanaians expressed preference for the NDC than the NPP by a 57 per cent -38 per cent margin.
Over the next seven rounds (2005, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022), more Ghanaians expressed preference for the NPP than the NDC by an average margin of 55 per cent to 35 per cent.
In Round 10 (2024), this shifted, where for the first time since the 1999 round, more Ghanaians expressed preference for the NDC than the NPP by a 45 per cent- 41 per cent margin.
It is important to note that in the seven rounds of the survey where the NPP won the preference race, the NDC managed to win two elections.
Preference, therefore, does not always translate into electoral victory.
The 2024 shift may be temporary and symptomatic of how Ghanaians were feeling about the country in the lead up to the elections.
It will be very interesting to see future iterations of the survey and whether this shift was a one-off or not.
Contribution to democratic development
As one of the two dominant political parties, the NDC has played a pivotal role in Ghana’s democracy.
The party has built an elaborate political and administrative system which offers citizens avenues for political association and civic engagement.
The regularity of their activities – elections for party officers, appointment to party positions, group affinities (youth, women, student wings), organisation of demonstrations, offering party platforms for contesting presidential and parliamentary elections all contribute to building a strong democratic culture where such activities become normalised and allows Ghana’s democracy to thrive.
In addition, their participation in the activities of the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), has contributed to building consensus on electoral reforms – photo voter identification cards, use of transparent ballot boxes, presence of party agents at polling stations, biometric voter registration, biometric verification of voters before voting, copies of voter’s registrations to political parties for verification before elections among others.
Granted, the post-2020 election years saw the NDC boycott IPAC for a while before returning.
Nonetheless, these reforms, for which the party played a key contributing part, have helped to improve the integrity of Ghana’s elections.
Also, these reforms have contributed to providing the protection needed for a key safeguard of Ghana’s democracy.
The road ahead
In a democracy with multiple political parties, partisanship is inevitable.
However, Ghana’s two main parties continue to sharpen their partisan edges, thus contributing to deepening polarisation of the political space.
As the party celebrates this milestone, perhaps one of the questions it can confront is how to continue offering political competition to its main rivals without contributing to political polarisation.
The answer may require reciprocity from the NPP, but Ghana’s democracy, just as other democracies around the world, could benefit from toned-down partisanship.
The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project.
