adverts
Former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has raised alarm over the increasing commercialisation of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) internal structures, describing the party as a “money-making machine.”
His concerns were based on findings from a fact-finding report on the NPP’s electoral performance in the Ashanti Region, which revealed that party members and supporters were deeply worried about the growing influence of money in internal elections.
“Observations coming from all the constituencies in Ashanti, 47 of them, and the people who were sent out interviewed—not only party officers (card-bearing party officers), but they went out there and spoke to supporters, sympathisers of the party, and almost everybody that they spoke to with one voice indicated that we need to have a second look at the delegate system in the party,” Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said on JoyFM’s Top Story on Wednesday, February 26.
adverts
He argued that the current delegate system, which determines the selection of party executives and candidates, has become heavily monetised, leading to voter apathy and division within the party.
“The process has become overly monetised, and that has already led to apathy in the party. It needs a complete overhaul,” he stressed.
One of the key recommendations from the report, according to Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, is to expand voting rights to all registered NPP members rather than limiting the selection process to a small group of delegates.
“Some of them say that we should go further downstream and enable all NPP members to be part of the voting system in the party, whether at the polling station level, area, constituency, region, or national level,” he explained.
He also suggested that this system should be applied in the selection of both parliamentary and presidential candidates, making the process more transparent and inclusive.
Reflecting on the evolution of the delegate system, he noted that it initially involved providing incentives such as food and transportation allowances to delegates. However, he lamented that it has now escalated into full-blown vote-buying, where money dictates election outcomes within the party.
“People think that what we are doing now is not serving the interests of the party; it’s causing divisions, it’s causing polarisation, and people are taking undue advantage, turning the party structures into a money-making machine, which is not good for the image of the party,” he stated.
His remarks follow the release of a fact-finding report he led, which examined the reasons behind the NPP’s electoral setbacks, particularly in the Ashanti Region, a traditional stronghold of the party.
The report identified multiple factors contributing to the party’s declining performance, including dissatisfaction with the leadership style of former President Nana Akufo-Addo, which was perceived as rigid and overly centralised. There were also concerns over the mode of selecting the party’s presidential, parliamentary, national, and regional executives, further fuelling internal discontent.
As the NPP prepares for future elections, Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu’s call for reforms could reignite debates over the party’s internal democracy and the need for structural changes to restore confidence among its members.
Click the link Puretvonline.com | WhatsApp Channel to join the WhatsApp channel
GOT A STORY?
Contact/WhatsApp: +233243201960 or Email: manuelnkansah33@gmail.com
