The New Patriotic Party: Roots and contribution to consolidating democracy in Ghana

The existence of political parties and the evidence of free and fair elections are the hallmark of a democracy. Political parties and elections are indispensable in a democracy and the number of cycles of elections and the turn-over are external indicators of how consolidated a democracy has grown.

It proves the point that political power is not centered around particular individuals; voting is not based solely on special interest, and the electoral process is largely independent of influence by a ruling government. Similarly, the ability of political parties to survive within democratic dispensation or dispensations that interrupted by military takeovers shows a strong commitment on the part of such traditions and contributions to consolidating democracy.

Without such resilience most sub-Saharan African countries will not have the competitive democracies we witness today. Since the resumption of democratic rule in the Fourth Republic since 1992, Ghana’s consolidation of democratic gains has been a reference point in the region.


Huntington’s criterion of ‘two-turn over’ has occurred in Ghana and confirms the consolidation of democracy. The major political parties, the NPP and the NDC have both won power, lost it and won it again in the fourth republic. The NDC won power in the election that transited Ghana into a democracy in 1992 at the start of the Fourth Republic. The NDC lost power to the NPP in 2000 and by 2009 the NDC was back in power.

Similarly, the NPP that succeeded the NDC in 2000 and ruled up to 2008 lost power to the NDC in returned to power in 2016. Thus, the NPP and NDC have been the dominant political parties in Ghana and have contributed immensely to the consolidation of democracy in Ghana in the Fourth Republic.

The case of NPP is peculiar and interesting because the Party has roots that stretch back to the pre-independence era when UGCC, the first political party was formed in 1945. Whilst the CPP too continues to exist up to date, its influence and relevance in the Fourth Republic has been questioned. We will, therefore, trace the history of the NPP from the pre-independence era to highlight its relevance to Ghana’s political and democratic history.

The roots of the NPP and its participation in elections date back to the first election that was held in the Gold Coast in 1951. It was the first elections in Africa to be held under universal suffrage. In this election, the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) won 34 of the 38 elected seats in the assembly, claiming all five seats and nearly 95% of the vote in urban areas.

In rural areas, the CPP won 29 of the 33 seats, taking around 72% of the vote. The main opposition, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) did not fare too well, winning only two seats, and was disbanded after the elections. Former members of the UGCC went on to form the Ghana Congress Party (GCP).

The second major election was held in 1954 following the approval of a new constitution in April 1954. As mentioned earlier, the UGCC was disbanded after the 1951 elections and went on to form the Ghana Congress Party (GCP) which participated in the 1954 elections. However, the performance of the GCP in the 1954 elections was not satisfactory as it came third after the CPP and the Northern Peoples Party (NPP); securing only 4.6 percent of the votes and winning only one out of the 104 seats.

The General Election of 1956 was to usher the country into independence. This was a struggling period for other parties and the National Liberation Movement (NLM) came to the rescue. The NLM was one of the offsprings of UP traditions of that contested in this election and fared very well.

The NLM was founded by the Venerable Okyeame Baffour Akoto Osei using his own seed money with the welfare of cocoa farmers, a federal government, among others, in mind. It is instructive to note that, the NLM had no attachment to the UGCC at the time of its formation.  In the 1956 General Election, the NLM was able to secure 20.9 percent of the votes and obtained 13 out of the 104 seats.

The CPP won the election with 57 percent of the votes and out of the remaining 43 percent the NLM accounted for 20 percent of those votes representing the highest percentage of votes from the opposition side. Also, the NLM accounted for 13 out of the 36 seats that were held by the Minority Parties and independent candidates. This was viewed as a threat by Kwame Nkrumah who had to act immediately under the guise of law to disband the opposition parties.

So, the Avoidance of Discrimination Bill was presented to the Assembly on December 9, 1957 and passed into law forbidding organizations whose purpose was the benefit or advancement of any community or religious faith from taking part in any election.

In anticipation of the Bill, the opposition parties fused into a single party called the United Party (U. P) and was inaugurated on 3rd of November, 1957. Its executive was drawn from the National Liberation Movement, Northern People’s Party, Muslim Association Party, the Togoland Congress, the Anlo Youth Organization, and the Ga Shifimo Kpee.

The NLM remained the largest and the strongest of all the parties of the UP during its formation in terms of the number of popular votes and the second largest in terms of seats as elaborated previously. Beyond that, these parties were already struggling financially and the merger with the NLM came as big relief to them as the Venerable Okyeame Baffour Akoto Osei supported them with his personal resources.

The Convention People’s Party further tried to consolidate its hold on political power by weakening the new coalition. One such strategy was through presentation of juicy offers to the opposition Members of Parliament to cross over. Another strategy employed was the use of intimidation and threats such as deposition of chiefs whose relatives were Members of Parliament on the side of the opposition. This placed enormous pressure on the opposition benches to cross carpet and join the governing side in Parliament.

Consequently, by the time the Republic of Ghana was inaugurated on 1st July, 1960, only four prominent people who were part of the alliance and of Northern roots remained on the non-government benches in the National Assembly. All the four hailed from the North-West (Upper West Region); they alone managed to resist CPP’s pressures. They included S. D. Dombo from Jirapa-Lambussie, Abayifaa Karbo from Lawra-Nandom, Jato Kaleo from Wala South and B. K. Adama from Wala North.

All four remained in the National Assembly until 1965 when all except Jato Kaleo were dropped because both S. D. Dombo and Abayifaa Karbo were detained by Nkrumah whiles B. K. Adama was on exile in Togo. Unfortunately, some key people left the coalition, UP, namely J. A. Braimah and Mumumi Bawumia, and took up juicy offers within CPP; Dr. K. A. Busia later left the country.


The Venerable Okyeame Baffour Akoto, The Doyen of our Politics, J. B. Danquah, and our revered Dombo had to suffer jail terms because of their commitment to democracy. J. B. Danquah eventually paid the ultimate price while Baffour Akoto lost his stool and linguist title until after the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Presidential elections were held for the first time in Ghana on 27 April 1960. The elections were held alongside a referendum on creating an executive presidency. The winner of the election would become the country's first President if the new republican constitution was passed.

There were only two candidates in the election: Kwame Nkrumah, incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the Convention People's Party; and J. B. Danquah, United Party leader. The CPP won 89 percent of the votes while UP secured only 11 percent of the votes.

In 1964, a constitutional amendment made Ghana a One-Party state with Kwame Nkrumah as President for Life of both Nation and his Party. In 1965, during the Nation’s Parliamentary Elections, since the Country was a One-Party state at that time, no party except President Kwame Nkrumah’s CPP was allowed to participate. All the 198 MPs representing the CPP were appointed by the President and elected unopposed.

Eventually, the Progress Party Participated in and won the second post-independence elections of 1969. Parliamentary elections were held in Ghana on 29 August 1969 for the first since the 1966 coup and Kofi Abrefa Busia, the leader of the Progress Party (PP) won 105 of the 140 seats and 58 percent of the popular votes, and went on to become Prime Minister.

A Ceremonial President, Edward Akufo-Addo, was elected by an electoral college. For the first time in the history of Ghana, a party from which the NPP traces its roots assumed political power.

Baffour Akoto dedicated himself selflessly to the cause of the PP but ceded the leadership to Dr. Kofi A. Busia. Akoto’s support and influence reflected in the outcome of the results. For instance, Ashanti Region alone was responsible for 21 percent (22 out of the 105) of the seats PP won. The Eastern region with 18 seats accounted for the second highest number of seats. From the Norther Part of Ghana, the PP won 9 seats in the Northern Region and 13 seats in the Upper Regions.

In conclusion, the New Patriotic Party has a very long tradition that stretches back to the days of the UGCC and the GCP. However, the formation of NLM was a turning point in the history of this country as it went on as a huge influence for the formation of the UP and PP. After a long period of instability from 1981 to 1992 when we returned to democratic rule, the long-standing tradition of UGCC-GCP and NLM-UP-PP like the proverbial Phoenix Bird resurrected from its own ashes in the form of the NPP we see today.

Thus, our tradition has contributed to consolidating Ghana’s democracy through active participation in elections since 1951. Our constant presence on the political landscape against all odds saved this country from One-Party rule and dictatorship. We should never forget that our democracy came at a prize.

Whenever we celebrate Ghana’s democracy, let us celebrate the NPP and its long tradition; when we celebrate the NPP, we also remember J. B. Danquah who suffered and died in jail for the course of democracy; let us not forget the Venerable Okyeame Baffour Akoto for his unparalleled sacrifice and financial investment in the UP Tradition, as well as, his detention in jail and loss of his stool and title; we should never forget Chief Simon Diedong Dombo and the other Northern Brothers like Abayifaa Karbo, Jato Kaleo, and B. K. Adama who resisted both intimidation and inducing.

To these stalwarts we owe a great deal of debt for a strong party that has been pivotal in consolidating the democracy of Ghana in the Fourth Republic.