Beyond the ballot: Why the NPP's next chapter must belong to everyone

The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) regional executive elections are over. Delegates have spoken, new leaders have emerged, and the party has completed an important stage in its internal reorganization ahead of the 2028 general election. But the most important question is no longer who won?. It is what the party does next and whether everyone who participated in the contests can find a place in the work ahead.

Across Ghana’s 16 regions, the elections have produced both new leadership and continuity. Among the closely watched contests, Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, popularly known as COKA, emerged as Ashanti Regional Chairman, while Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye was elected Greater Accra Regional Chairman. These results matter, but their real significance will be determined by what happens after the ballots have been counted.

Beyond victory: Building one party together

Every internal election produces winners and defeated candidates. But a political party preparing for a national election cannot afford to turn temporary electoral differences into permanent divisions. The newly elected executives have received mandates to lead. They must therefore also accept the responsibility of leading everyone including those who supported their opponents.

A particularly encouraging example has emerged from the Northern Region, where newly re-elected Regional Chairman Mohammed Baantima Samba and the regional leadership have demonstrated a commitment to keeping the party together after the contest. The broader significance of such outreach is clear: those who competed unsuccessfully should not be treated as having lost their value or their place in the organization.

The same principle has been visible in Ashanti, where the newly elected regional chairman reached out to his former contender after the election, with both sides emphasizing the importance of unity and collective rebuilding. These developments offer an important lesson: an internal election may determine who occupies an office, but it should not determine who belongs. Those who contested and did not win have not suddenly lost their experience, networks, ideas or commitment to the party. Their supporters remain part of the organization, just as those who supported the successful candidates do.

The ballot should determine leadership, not relationships

That principle should guide the next phase of the NPP’s reorganization. Those who won should lead inclusively; those who lost should remain constructively engaged; and the wider membership should recognize that the party’s future is bigger than any single internal contest.

If this spirit can be sustained beyond the immediate aftermath of the elections, the NPP will have achieved something more valuable than simply changing its regional executives: it will have strengthened the organizational culture needed for the difficult political work ahead.

Unity is the beginning, not the destination

The NPP’s 2024 defeat means that its task is bigger than conducting successful internal elections.

The new regional executives must help rebuild grassroots structures, improve communication with members, and reconnect the party with voters. They must also listen to people beyond the party’s active membership. This distinction is crucial.

Winning an internal party election is not the same as winning a national election

The delegates who participate in internal contests form the party’s organizational base, but the electorate in a general election is much broader. The NPP’s regional leadership must therefore use the period ahead not only to strengthen the party internally but also to understand why some voters moved away from it in 2024 and what would be required to regain their confidence.

That work cannot be achieved by regional executives alone. It requires the participation of MPs, former candidates, constituency executives, former executives, activists, youth organisers, women’s groups and ordinary supporters. Everyone has a role.

Leadership must make room for everyone

The party’s national leadership has also emphasized the importance of unity following the internal contests. That message is important, but its real value will depend on whether it becomes organizational practice. Unity should mean more than appearing together at public events. It should involve consultation, respect for differing views, fair opportunities for participation and effective mechanisms for resolving disagreements before they become destructive.

The experience of former party officials also offers an important lesson: regional leadership cannot succeed without the confidence and cooperation of the people it is expected to lead. The new executives therefore have an opportunity to establish a culture in which winning gives a person responsibility rather than superiority, and losing does not mean exclusion.

The next test: Carrying unity forward

The regional elections are only the beginning. The forthcoming national executive and parliamentary contests will provide an even greater test of whether the spirit of reconciliation witnessed at the regional level can be sustained.

These contests will inevitably produce new competition, but they also offer the NPP an opportunity to institutionalize a culture in which winning does not mean exclusion and losing does not mean disengagement. If successful candidates reach out to those they defeat, and unsuccessful aspirants remain constructively involved, the party can emerge from these processes stronger and more cohesive.

There is therefore reason for cautious hope. The national executive and parliamentary elections could consolidate the organizational renewal that has begun at the regional level and give the NPP a stronger platform from which to compete in 2028. Victory is never guaranteed by internal elections. But a united, disciplined and well-organised party will be better positioned to pursue it.

Beyond the ballot

The regional elections have answered one question: who will lead at the regional level?

They have not yet answered the more important question: can the NPP work together effectively enough to rebuild public confidence before 2028?

That answer will emerge gradually not from speeches or election-day celebrations, but from what the party does between now and the next general election. If the new executives can bring competing camps together, strengthen grassroots organisation, listen to members and engage voters beyond the party’s traditional base, the regional elections could become an important stage in the NPP’s organisational renewal.

But that opportunity belongs to everyone. Those who won have a mandate. Those who lost still have a role. Those who did not contest have a voice. And the ordinary members and supporters who sustain the party between elections remain its most important grassroots resource.

The regional elections have therefore provided the NPP with more than a new set of executives. They have provided an opportunity to demonstrate that internal competition and organisational unity can coexist.

The ballot has settled the contest. Now the work of rebuilding must bring everyone together. For the NPP, the next chapter should not belong only to those who won the elections. It should belong to everyone prepared to work for the future of the party.

He is a member of the TaTU TESCON Patrons and a researcher and public affairs writer with interests in peace, governance, public policy, labour and political development.