Three eminent long-time members of their political parties have experienced their Damascus moment and now want the Supreme Court (SC) to declare the delegate system of their parties as unconstitutional. The plaintiffs are Prof. Frimpong-Boateng, Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe and Dr. Amoako-Nuamah. Dr. Nyaho-Tamakloe is a founding member of the NPP.
Prof. Frimpong-Boateng and Dr. Amoako-Nuamah were ministers at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology. Dr. Amoako-Nuamah has been an elder of the NDC. Their suit number J1/05/2026 was filed on 23 January 2026. This suit seeks refuge in the following articles of the Constitution: 1, 17, 35(5), 35(6)(d), 42 and 55(5). The defendants are the NDC, NPP, CPP, the EC and the Attorney-General (A-G).
The plaintiffs want the political parties to allow ‘all party members in good standing’ to vote in their internal party elections. There are risks associated with the political parties using a non-delegate system to select party officers and candidates for parliament and the presidency. I discuss these risks below.
The risk of infiltration.
The delegate system, which the suit opposes, gives a political party some assurance that its electoral college is composed of committed and loyal members. In a non-delegate system, the internal election of a political party becomes susceptible to infiltration and corruption by outsiders who do not wish it well. How does this happen? Simple. The opposition party arms its operatives with money and directs them to recruit voters for the target party.
These operatives will buy membership cards and pay dues for ‘members’ so that they instantly become members ‘in good standing.’ These members will subsequently be directed to vote for the weaker candidate for office in the target party.
The NDC introduced a version of this open primary system for the 2016 elections. The NDC did a quick sankofa; they returned to the delegate system for the 2020 and subsequent elections.
Marginalization of rural communities.
An ADS will further marginalize rural communities and provide fuel to irredentist forces. How will this work? Simple. A candidate for national political party office can win primaries by recruiting a few hundred thousand voters from the densely populated cities of Accra-Tema, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi.
The candidate will not find it convenient or profitable to canvass for votes in ‘far’ places such as Hohoe, Lawra or Bongo. This same phenomenon will manifest in sub-national elections such as regional and constituency primaries.
In poor communities, buying membership cards and paying party dues compete with the food budget. Obtaining party membership in good standing is a luxury they cannot afford.
Based on the Ghanaian political principle of ‘let’s take care of the people who brought us to power,’ these rural communities will continually suffer economic neglect. In time, they will ask the question, ‘Are we part of Ghana?’
ADS is not a panacea for the monetization of politics.
Opponents of the delegate system often argue that expanding the electoral college will reduce the influence of money in primaries. Really? Have we so soon forgotten the spectacle of people looting warehouses for goods that remained undistributed after the last general election?
If money and goods are distributed to voters who number in the millions during the general election, what mind-altering beverage makes anyone think that eliminating the delegate system will reduce the influence of money? The sad reality of life is that it is those who have money who largely run the politics of every country. Exhibit 1: Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.
There is no cure for the monetization of politics, no matter how much our idealism will war against it. Some have suggested state funding of political parties. But this is a misuse of public funds in an environment of financial stringency.
It is a false claim that a delegate system is not democratic. There are many countries that use a delegate system in primaries or the election of party officers. No one has accused these countries of not being democratic.
The plaintiffs want to fix a machine that is not broken. It has been said that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ The members of the NDC, NPP and CPP have not massed up in our streets in indignation, demanding the abolition of their party’s delegate system.
The unspoken message of the suit is that these members, being unsophisticated, are unaware that their rights are being trampled upon. Hence, the white-hatted cowboys to the rescue. These parties have internal mechanisms that will allow them to switch from a delegate system to an open system if that is the wish of their members.
It can further be argued that political parties are private voluntary associations and are free to determine the manner of their governance, so long as this does not violate stated public policy.
The cure this suit seeks to implement is worse than the disease. Let us reason again, together.
By Dr. Gheysika Agambila
The author is a former deputy minister of state, senior lecturer at GIMPA and vice president of the Ghana Association of Writers. He is the author of novels for adults and children.
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