As a concerned member of the New Patriotic Party, I am submitting proposals for constitutional amendment to enhance the party’s internal democracy, inclusivity, and effectiveness under Article 19(a) of the New Patriotic Party’s Constitution and in response to the General Secretary’s communique dated April 25, 2025.
These proposals are informed by my experience as a former Polling Station Chairman at Fiapre St. Thomas R/C Primary A in the Sunyani West Constituency, a former TESCON President at the University of Ghana, and currently a Deputy Administrator for the National Youth Wing of our great party.
Proposal
1. Expansion of Electoral Area and Polling Station Executives: Amend Article 13 (11) (V) (Vi) of the New Patriotic Party’s constitution to:
“Establish 5 Electoral Area executives instead of a single Coordinator, expanding the party’s electoral base and making it more formidable which will also reduce monetizing the Parliamentary and Presidential elections.”
Proposed Positions for Electoral Area
- Chairman
- Secretary
- Organizer
- Youth Organizer
- Women Organizer
a. Increase the number of Polling Station executives to 15 officers, to expand the working group at the grassroots level which will eventually increase work rate and the size of the party as well, recognizing the demanding nature of these positions to help in getting more hands to help build the party.
This will also relegate or reduce the influence of monetizing elections within the party especially elections of the Presidential and Parliamentary candidates. This would also give opportunity to more party faithfuls to serve effectively, to reduce tensions and issues that comes with polling station elections.
Proposed Positions for Polling station
- Chairman
- Vice Chairman
- Secretary
- Deputy Secretary
- Treasurer
- Organizer
- Deputy Organizer
- Youth Organizer
- Deputy Youth Organizer
- Women Organizer
- Deputy Women Organizer
- Nasara Cordinator
- Research Officer
- Communications Officer
- Deputy Communications Officer
b. Election of all Deputy Constituency and Regional Executives: Amend the constitution to provide for the election of all deputy executives at the Regional and constituency levels. This will prevent parliamentary candidates/Members of Parliament and other stakeholders from influencing the selection of deputy executives and ensure that executives are chosen on merit and are held accountable on same grounds.
Deputy executives in the NPP are more focused on pleasing their appointor instead of working for the party and the grassroots, they also lack a good relationship with the grassroots since they do not depend on them for their positions and will not go back to them for re-election or otherwise. Election of Deputies at these levels will enhance effectiveness and boost work rate.
c. Election of Deputy National Executives for the Organizational Portfolios: Amend the constitution to provide for the election of Deputy Executives i.e. Organizer, Youth Organizer, Women Organizer and Nasara Coordinator at the national level and increase the deputy positions to three to cover all belts of the country.
These deputies can be elected to represent various zones or belts in the country, promoting regional and geographical balance within the party’s leadership.
For example: Depending on where you find yourself, you can contest for the deputy position reserved for that belt. This means persons who will contest for a deputy position must come from the specific belt he or she wants to represent but must be voted for, by same delegates voting for the substantive national positions.
That is, persons from the southern belt only contest for the southern belt deputy position but must be voted by same delegates voting for the substantive national positions. In summary, delegates will vote for all the three deputy positions by voting for one candidate of their choice from each of the belts. This will enhance participation and improve relationships with the grassroots. The three deputies are:
- Deputy from Southern belt
- Deputy from Middle belt
- Deputy from Northern belt
d. Streamlining National Executives Elections: Amend the constitution to hold elections for certain national executive positions on specific days. For instance:
– National Organizer, Youth Organizer, Women Organizer, and Nasara Coordinator can be elected on one day.
– Chairmanship, Secretary, Treasurer, and First Vice Chairmanship positions can be elected on another day.
Given the proposal to hold elections for all national deputy positions, as outlined in paragraph 2 (Supra), it is likely that conducting all national elections on a single day would be impractical.
To address this, I propose staggering the elections across different days and regions. This approach would promote inclusivity, enhance participation, and ensure a more manageable electoral process nationwide.
e. Representation of TESCON: Amend the constitution to provide for representation of TESCON, the wing of the NPP at all tertiary levels, in the party’s structures. Specifically:
– Allocate at least 5 voting slots to each tertiary institution to represent TESCON at the constituency where the institution is located.
– Grant these representatives voting rights at regional and national elections, ensuring that the voice of TESCON is heard and valued.
f. Election of Substantive Communication Officers: Amend the constitution to provide for the election of substantive Communication Officers at the constituency, regional, and national levels. Effective communication is crucial in defining electoral success, and electing Communication Officers will ensure connectivity and good relationships with the grassroots.
Often times, Communication Officers lack connectivity with their subordinates coupled with poor coordination of activities, the election of communication officers who will be accountable to their delegates based on their manifesto promises will promote effectiveness.
g. Expulsion of Article 13 (7) (g) of the New Patriotic Party’s Constitution: The proposal seeks to amend Article 13 (7) (g) of the New Patriotic Party’s Constitution, which currently requires presidential candidates to obtain endorsements from 100 party members across the original 10 regions.
With the creation of 6 additional regions, bringing the total to 16, this provision no longer aligns with the current regional configuration. The party needs to increase the total endorsement to 160 to reflect all 16 regions or divide the 100 endorsements among all 16 regions.
h. Disciplinary Measures: Introduce an automatic amnesty for party members who have been sanctioned or resigned from the party every 2 years, subject to good conduct. When an expelled, suspended or resigned party member shows interest, participation and good conduct for party activities for a period of 2 years, there should be automatic amnesty to bring the person back. This will allow members to redeem themselves and contribute to the party’s growth.
Conclusion
These proposals aim to strengthen the NPP’s internal democracy, promote inclusivity, and enhance the party’s effectiveness. I believe that these amendments will contribute to the party’s growth and success.
Recommendation
I recommend that the Constitution Amendment Committee considers these proposals and incorporate them into the party’s constitution. Humbly submitted for your kind review and consideration.
Maxwell Adu Takyi
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