Ghanaian legal scholar and political commentator, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar, has called on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to abolish its delegate system.
According to him, the long-standing system continues to empower elites while rendering ordinary party members voiceless in key decision-making processes.
He described the delegate structure as one that allows “a handful of party delegates, often captured by money, inducements, and incumbents,” to wield disproportionate power.
“If the party is truly serious about reform, it must democratize its processes and empower the base, not just rebrand the elite,” he wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, June 18.
His comment comes after the main opposition party announced January 31, 2026, as the date to elect its presidential candidate for the 2028 general elections, where it hopes to return to power.
The date was approved during a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on Tuesday, June 17.
As part of its roadmap, the party also scheduled polling station executive elections for December 6, 2025.
However, it has yet to announce dates for its constituency, regional, and national executive elections.
According to Prof Kwaku Azar, the sequence paints the NPP as a party running away from accountability and risks making it appear unserious.
“Even more troubling is that those [the party executives] who oversaw the 2024 defeat remain in power and are now leading the so-called reforms,” he noted.
He added, “You cannot put the same captains who ran the ship aground back at the helm and expect a different voyage. Reform must begin with accountability. Instead, the architects of failure are being rewarded with extended relevance and control over the future.”
