Senior journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has issued a stern warning about the future of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), predicting that the party is heading towards an inevitable collapse if it fails to urgently address internal divisions and the concerns of its key elders.
Speaking on Alhaji & Alhaji on Pan African TV on Saturday, Mr Pratt said the NPP’s current trajectory signals a deepening crisis that could cost the party heavily in the next general elections.
“Sana, I can bet my bottom pesewa that in the 2028 election, if they (NPP) manage to win half of the seats they have today in Parliament, it will be a shocker. The party is in decline,” he stated.
According to him, signs of deterioration within the party are no longer speculative but glaring. “We’ve come to the point where it is obvious that an implosion is imminent, you understand? And yet they are not doing anything about it.”
Mr Pratt expressed concern over what he described as a lack of openness within the party’s leadership, despite repeated warnings from notable figures within the NPP.
“My brother Nii Noi has spoken about it. Kwame Pianim has spoken about it. President Kufuor has spoken about it. Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has spoken about it. And yet, nobody is listening,” he lamented.
He added that the party’s executive appears to be preoccupied with a narrow agenda centred around securing the presidential candidacy for one individual. “It seems to me that the apparent agenda of the current executive is to ensure that one man and only one man ends up being elected as the presidential candidate of the party.”
Mr Pratt questioned the motivation behind this fixation. “But hey, what is that? All you want to be is to be a presidential candidate, that’s all. Is that all they want? If that is all they want, fine, they will get it. But what would be the consequence for the party and also for Ghana?”
He warned that the current situation threatens the core of Ghana’s multiparty democracy.
“We have chosen to run a multi-party democratic dispensation with all its problems. Now, if you’re running a multi-party democratic dispensation and one party has enough numbers in Parliament to do anything it wants, you’re not running a multi-party dispensation anymore,” he said.
Mr Pratt explained that the dominance of a single party in Parliament puts Ghana’s political balance at risk. “If one party has the numbers to do anything it wants, and right now, we’ve come to a situation where the National Democratic Congress can virtually do anything it wants. It has the numbers. And that is why many people are saying that, look, this party ought to get its act together.”
He issued a clear challenge to the NPP’s leadership and grassroots. “Either this party (the NPP) gets its act together, or there must emerge in this country a stronger, more focused political party to give meaning to the multi-party democratic expression.”
Mr Pratt acknowledged growing signs of fragmentation within the party, citing recent efforts by key figures to form breakaway movements.
“Already, there are some indications that some parties are going to spring out. We’ve heard about Dr. Amoako Baah’s attempt to build a new party. We’ve heard about efforts being made by people like Solo (Alan John Kyerematen) to build another party and so on.”
He, however, raised doubts about whether these emerging movements are truly a break from the past. “What I find unsettling, if you like, is that they all claim to be building a party out of the New Patriotic Party. Now, if that is what it means, then it will not answer the yearning desire for a stronger political party to hold the balance of power.”
Mr Pratt also cited recent electoral results as a red flag for the NPP’s fortunes.
“If you look at the result of the Akwatia by-election, the last elections, the New Patriotic Party candidate won with a margin of about 2,000. This time, the New Patriotic Party candidate lost with a margin of 3,000. That must say something,” he highlighted.
He added that the message from the electorate is lucid: “You know, that is a statement in itself. It’s a huge statement in itself. And I do hope that people in the party who can, who have the power, will do the right things. Otherwise, this party faces an implosion.”
