By Dr. Kwabena Arthur Kennedy , Founding Member of the New Patriotic Party, republished
on Sankofaonline | July 2025
Editorial Note
This op-ed reflects the personal views of a founding member of the New Patriotic Party and is part of Sankofaonline’s commitment to amplifying voices that challenge, critique, and seek renewal within Ghana’s democratic institutions. The piece has been lightly edited for clarity and structure, but its core message remains untouched: a call for introspection, reform, and accountability.
Summary
A searing indictment of the New Patriotic Party’s current trajectory, this essay by a founding member warns of moral decay, centralized power, and electoral backlash. It calls for urgent reforms, grassroots empowerment, and a delay in flagbearer elections to restore democratic integrity.
Main Text:
The air hangs heavy with a familiar scent in the New Patriotic Party—one not of victory or progress, but of decay. It’s the acrid odor of ambition unbridled, of trust squandered, and of the very foundations of a once-noble movement crumbling beneath the weight of its own hubris.
As a founding member, I find myself a Cassandra in these halls, my warnings echoing unheard. Yet the truth remains: the NPP, our beloved party, is hurtling down a perilous path to irrelevance.
We stand at a precipice, staring into an abyss carved by corruption, nepotism, and a breathtaking lack of accountability. Our leaders, once beacons of hope and champions of the people have become architects of their own downfall, bypassing every sacred procedure, ignoring every grassroots plea.
It grieves me to admit that a significant portion of John Mahama’s recent success , a full 20% of his votes, came not from his unwavering support, but from the disillusioned hearts of our own New Patriotic Party members. This is not merely a setback; it is a profound indictment.
Dr. Arthur Kwabena Kennedy, a man who once managed the very first presidential bid of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has penned a document of immense significance; a lament for the soul of our party. He speaks of the immediate past National Delegates Conference not as a step forward, but as a march towards oblivion. The essential constituency and regional conferences, the very lifeblood of our democratic process have been summarily ignored. Proposed amendments, vital to our party’s evolution, have been kept from the constituencies, shrouded in secrecy.
The reins of power, once shared, have been snatched and centralized in the hands of a select few. Our government has become synonymous with corruption, nepotism, and arrogance that rivals the most despotic regimes of old. We find ourselves in an era that darkens even the notorious Calabari era, a period of unchecked public corruption that drew the ire of 12th-century critiques. To associate with these wrongdoers is to partake in their misdeeds, to tarnish our own souls with their stains.
The electoral backlash we experienced was not an anomaly; it was a righteous judgment. When our own leader, with a chilling disregard for democratic principles, broadcasted the message that voters could do as they pleased with their ballots, he sowed the seeds of our own destruction.
Now, the burden falls upon us , the true patriots, to restore our values, to excise the cancerous elements, and to reclaim our rightful place as the natural party of governance.
The actions of our current leadership are not just illegal; they are immoral. They have orchestrated unauthorized amendments and flagbearer elections, trampling over the very grassroots who entrusted them with their mandate.
And where were the elders? Where were the ex-presidents Nana Akufo-Addo and John Agyekum Kufuor, whose wisdom we once cherished? Rumors swirled that even they found the process lacking, yet their silence was deafening. The presidential aspirants, too, stood idly by, unwilling to confront those who gnawed at the very fabric of our party. They feared to challenge, to lead, to be the voice of conscience.
We stand on the precipice of a decision as monumental as Osei Tutu’s legendary crossing of River Pra. John Mahama’s promises, once dismissed, now appear transformative in the harsh light of our last eight years of mismanagement . He speaks of completing a market in the Ashanti Region, a project initiated by Kufuor, while we squandered $58 million on a failed National Cathedral.
We see former officials, their reputations stained by corruption, clamoring for a return to power, as if the people have forgotten their transgressions. Let us remember, with sobering clarity, that no political party holds a divine right to rule. Look to South Africa, where the mighty ANC has lost its majority, and the EFF now holds significant sway.
To my fellow delegates, I implore you: delay the flagbearer election. Let us first conduct proper regional and national officer elections. Let us empower every general election voter to participate in our primaries, thereby diminishing the corrupting influence of money in our politics.
For if we fail to reform,if we continue on this path of arrogance and self-destruction,the electoral rejection we have already tasted will become our permanent reality. The people will speak, and their judgment will be swift and unforgiving.
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