A former flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Arthur Kennedy, has criticised the opposition party’s plan to adopt a top-to-bottom approach to its reorganisation.
Following a National Executive Council meeting on June 17, the party announced that it will hold its flagbearer election on January 31, 2026, ahead of the 2028 general elections.
Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s News on Wednesday, June 25, monitored by ModernGhana News, Dr. Kennedy said the party should have first renewed the mandate of its national executives before electing a new flagbearer.
He argued that the move is undemocratic and deviates from the party’s long-standing traditions under its founding chairman, B.J. da Rocha, where executive elections were always held before flagbearer contests.
“When I talk about their traditions dating all the way back to the time of B.J. da Rocha—generally, after a presidential election, the party executives need to go and renew their mandate. And… these party executives who are there now, their mandates are expiring in the next 12 months. If your mandate is expiring, the first thing to do is to renew that mandate.
“But I’m just saying that even assuming the best intentions, the executives should first go and renew their mandate. It will seem as if they are doing a sleight of hand to, in effect, elect a flagbearer who will turn around and bless them before they go seek their mandate. That is anti-democratic,” Dr. Kennedy stated.
He further criticised the party for allegedly concealing the report of the election review committee chaired by Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye.
