The New Patriotic Party (NPP) chose its flagbearer more than three years before the 2028 general elections, a move that party officials say has eased internal tensions and given them time to rebuild. Nana Akomea, the party’s newly elected Third Vice Chairperson, described the early selection as a strategic advantage that allowed the party to avoid the usual acrimony of leadership contests.
“We secured for ourselves the blessing of time by doing this reorganisation, selecting the flag bearer 223 years ahead of the elections, and you would see the wisdom in that action has cascaded,” Akomea said. The figure appears to be a slip but reflects the party’s emphasis on an extended preparation period.
Akomea pointed to the recent national executive elections as proof of the strategy’s effect. “Look at this election that we did, the national executive. There was not much acrimony. You didn’t have candidates speaking against each other. Everybody just presented their case.” He credited the relatively calm process to the fact that the flagbearer contest had already been resolved. “The party is composed because we have a leader who serves as the centre of gravity of the party, and we’ve given that blessing to ourselves by the early election of the leader.”
The NPP now faces the challenge of strengthening its parliamentary presence, especially in constituencies where it currently holds no seats. Akomea described these as “orphan constituencies” and said the party must be deliberate in choosing candidates to avoid a free-for-all. The party plans to analyse demographic data from these areas to identify candidates likely to succeed.
“The constituency party will bring us reports about the demography, and they would suggest that for this constituency, if we get a candidate from this demography, it will help us,” Akomea said. He said this approach could prevent prospective candidates from spending heavily on campaigns before the party decides who is best suited to represent it. “So when that determination is done early, then somebody who is not from that demography will not go and waste time and go and campaign, spend money, and then later on you decide that, oh, he may not win.”
Akomea noted that the practice is not new. “In the NPP going to the 2000 elections, we did the same exercise. We had many constituencies with no sitting MPs, and we decided that the coastal area of Accra, for example, should be reserved for Gas. That is profiling, and so on.” The difference now is the scale and deliberate nature of the effort. “So it is not new. Is that we’re going to do it on a scale that is more deliberate, and that is more fulfilling.”
The early flagbearer selection and focus on parliamentary planning come amid a period of reorganisation for the NPP. The party appears to be preparing methodically for the next election cycle, using time as a resource to reduce internal conflict and sharpen its electoral strategy. The extent to which this approach will impact the 2028 elections remains to be seen.
According to Joy Online.
