Refrain from campaigning for party positions - NPP Council of Elders urges party members

The National Council of Elders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has appealed to members and sympathisers of the party to refrain from campaigning for positions within the party.

It said the campaign activities for various positions at the constituency, regional and national levels would not help the party’s effort to rebuild and energise the party following the 2024 disappointing electoral defeat.

A statement issued in Accra and signed by the chairman of the National Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, expressed concern about this development. 

Assessment

“We wish to remind ourselves that the focus of the party at this critical time is to organise a detailed assessment of the causes of the party’s dismaying performance in the recent elections,” it said.

It noted that it was in pursuance of that goal that an Election Review Committee chaired by Professor Mike Oquaye has been set up by the NPP National Council.

“The Committee is expected to, within three months, engage party members, stakeholders, and the general public on its terms of reference, after which it shall submit a report containing its findings and recommendations,” it stated.

The statement noted that this was the time for members of the party to reflect soberly on what happened to the party in 2024.

“Time for internal competitions shall certainly come to pass. For the moment, it is critical for us to rebuild and energise our party,” it stressed.

Background

At a news conference held on December 23, 2024, at the party's headquarters in Asylum Down, Accra, the NPP National Chairman, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, announced the party’s intention to establish an election review committee in January 2025. The purpose of the committee was to conduct a thorough post-mortem analysis of the party's defeat in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.  

The committee would engage with party stakeholders and the general public to identify the factors and circumstances that led to the loss. It will also examine the need for constitutional amendments and restructuring of the party’s internal decision-making processes, particularly regarding the election of presidential and parliamentary candidates, as well as party executives.

At the party’s National Executive Committee meeting held in Accra on January 2, 2025, and chaired by Mr Ntim, the party announced the 11-member committee to investigate the party's defeat in the 2024 general election with its chairperson as Prof. Oquaye, a former Speaker of Parliament.  

Other members of the committee are Prof. Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, Prof. Kofi Osei Akuoko, Prof. Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi, Dr Felix Yamoah, Dr Joseph Agyapong Darmoe, F.F. Anto, Kwaku Domfe, Gifty Kusi, Abdulai Abanga and Seidu Nasigri.

The primary objective of the committee was to "reposition the party for victory in 2028."

The committee's mandate includes conducting a comprehensive review of the party's activities during the 2024 electoral cycle, analysing the root causes of the party's performance and developing a strategic road map to rebrand the party for a decisive victory in the 2028 elections.

It would also engage with various stakeholders, including the former Presidents, past campaign management team members, religious leaders, youth and student groups, organised labour, traditional authorities and the grass-roots membership of the party.