NPP Constitutional amendment and matters arising

The New Patriotic Party has again set the record at the extraordinary delegates conference in Kumasi by amending some part of their constitution for other political parties to follow.

They again have shown maturity by applying democratical rules in dealing with proposed amendments and also have paved way for the main opposition parties to emulate.

The party first registered it constitution as the 1992 constitution demand, first amendment was on June 24th, 1998, followed by the second amendment in 2003, and the third amendment was on the 29th August 2009, the Sunday delegates conference was the fifth amendment that took place after party registration in 1992.

The party has assessed it strength and weakness and has come to realized that there is the need to amend our constitution and has done that last Sunday. Therefore there is the need for every political party to assess the strength and weakness of its constitution and apply the necessary medicine to put the party on truck.

Before the delegates could gather at Kumasi Baba Yara stadium, many have predicted doom and bloodbath because one or two people have spoken on radio stations to registered their displeasure on some of the proposals made by party members.

The New Patriotic Party has organized so many conferences, some of them were the same constitutional amendments and the procedure has not change, and the Kumasi one wasn't exceptional. The reason for their noise was about some three proposals from party members.

The proposals are;

1. For Members of Parliament to appoint constituency executives and

2. For party members with dual citizenship to be disqualified from contesting for any party position.

3. For the flagbearer of the party to be considered as the leader of the party. Meanwhile, the above Three ‘controversial’ proposals submitted for amendment in the constitution of the governing NPP have been rejected. In fact they were even withdrawn out before the amendment process start.

Base on the above proposal, we need to applause the President, H. E Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo Addo for being selfless, it takes total modesty and a spirit of service to resist such alluring prospects, the President has really given us a great example in this country. He said the position of the President was a good precedent that would also serve to keep out dictators from the party as that position preserved important checks and balances that ensured that dictators did not emerge in the party.

This what the president said "“We’ve agreed that three controversial amendments are going to be withdrawn. The first is the amendment making it impossible for dual citizens to hold party office and contest elections. That amendment will be a disaster for our party, it will lead to the collapse of our overseas branches and it is not constitutional. I’m aware of the problem that the amendment seeks to cure, but we have to deal with it in another manner".

“The second proposal that has been withdrawn is the one that gives the MPs the right to appoint members of the constituency executives. I am strongly opposed to the measure, and it is going to be withdrawn".

"The third amendment to which I am absolutely opposed is one that seeks to make the presidential candidate, president of our country, the flagbearer and leader of the party; that motion is against all precedent and traditions of this party, and I am going to ask Congress to, if it will not be withdrawn, oppose and reject it. We do not need that amendment,”



The historic extraordinary delegates conference has thought us lesson on how the party must unite and fight for a common purpose. I will take an opportunity to advise all party faithfuls to stay calm as we conduct our Polling Stations, Electoral Area Coordinators, Constituency Executives, Regional Executives and the National Executives positions across the country.

You, therefore, reminded that it is a friendly contest and does not require an application of violence and divisions, we are all fighting for a common goal to execute a common agenda.

Thank you