THE NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY (NPP) IN A BRIEF HISTORICAL PERSEPECTIVE

By Prof. Wayo Seini* (A speech read at the NPP Founders/Patrons Forum onFriday August 3rd, 2007 at the Mamfe Hall, GIMPA)

Introduction

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) did not just happen by accident or instantaneously in 1992. Its formation was carefully nurtured by major actors who relied heavily on the resilience of the United Party (UP) tradition. There were also major events that aided the smooth formation of the party. Even when the party found itself in opposition by default after the 1992 elections, the party demonstrated its democratic credentials by acting sensibly and judiciously in order to help lay the foundations of effective democratic governance.

Formation

In the formation of the NPP, the resilience of the Danquah/Busia tradition was brought into play. As soon as it was revealed by the Justice Annan Committee that the mood of the nation was in favour of multiparty politics in early 1992, Mr. B. J. da Rocha and a few others found it wise to revive the Progress Party (PP) and immediately convened meetings at the residence of the late Mr. Steven Kreku, with the blessing of the late Mr. Victor Owusu, the leader and presidential candidate of the Popular Front Party (PFP) in the 1979 general elections. It must be stated clearly from the outset that the Danquah/Busia Memorial Club, which was fopmed in Kumasi by Messrs Attakura Gyimah, John Bilson and Obeng Manu, was not the precursor to the New Patriotic Party as many erroneously believe. In deed the involvement of John Bilson in the formation of the Club aroused the suspicions of many of the Progress Party (PP) stalwarts who had to move quickly to thwart his efforts to benefit from the party’s huge following in his attempt to revive his own party. Nevertheless, many of its initial members were former Progress Party members. The meetings convened at the residence of Mr. Stephen Kreke by the Progress Party group constituted the main route to the ultimate formation of the NPP.

Two main committees were crucial to the formation of the NPP: the interim national executive committee, chaired by Mr. B. J. da Rocha and the policy and research committee under the chairmanship of the late Prof. K. G. Folson. The policy and research committee of the emerging party was responsible for numerous tasks that preceded the formation of the NPP. Sub-committees, all chaired by Prof. Folson, were set up to adequately prepare the grounds for the formation of the party. These included the manifesto and the constitutional sub-committees. A think tank that worked out of Prof. Folson’s office provided all the necessary background policy papers for discussion. Mr. B. J. da Rocha also drafted the emerging party’s constitution for the constitutional sub-committee’s consideration. A three-member sub-sub committee, headed by Mr. da Rocha himself was then tasked by the interim executive committee to finalize the proposed constitution that was distilled by the constitutional sub-committee from his initial draft. Other interim committees that were formed to aid the smooth formation of the party included the organizational committee chaired by Nana Akufo Addo, the publicity committee chaired by Mr. Jake Obetchebi-Lamptey, the youth committee led by Alhaji Al-Hassan Malik Yakubu and the women’s committee led by Ms. Theresa Tagoe.

Major Actors

From the outset, it should be stated clearly that Mr. B. J. da Rocha was the principal actor in the formation of the New Patriotic Party. Indeed he did not only initiate and chaired the meetings that led to the formation of the party, but he skillfully guided and natured the PP group meetings into the NPP. Nevertheless, there were so many other major actors in the process of the formation of the party. It is impossible to make a comprehensive roll call of all of them but some outstanding personalities are worth mentioning.

At a time that there was still a lot of fear hanging in the air under the military regime, Mr. Stephen Kreku bravely offered his residence for the general meetings of the PP group. In fact it could be literally stated that the NPP was borne at his residency. Mr. Agyenim Boateng served as an able right-hand man of the interim chairman and later became the party’s first General Secretary. There were many others who braved it and regularly attended and participated fully in the meetings of the PP group. These included Mr. Victor Owusu, Mr. H. O.Lamptey, Mr. R. R. Amponsah, Mr. Appiah Menkah, Prof. Albert Adu-Boahene, His Excellency Mr. J. A. Kufuor, Dr. Kwame Safo-Adu, Alhaji Shaani Mahama (who traveled several times from Yendi to attend some of the meetings), Mr. J. A. Addison, Mr. Kwesi Brew, Mr. Kwabena Pepra, Alhaji B. K. Adama, Mr. C. K. Tedam, Mr. Ebenezer Sakyi-Hughes (who traveled regularly from Takoradi to attend meetings and later became the first national vice-chairman of the party), His Excellency Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey (who later succeeded Mr. B. J. da Rocha as the national chairman), His Excellency Mr. Odoi-Sykes (who also later succeeded Mr. Peter Ala Adjetey as the national chairman), Ms. Ama Busia (who later became the first woman national vice chairman), Dr.Dzane Selby and Mr. Coleman Paito. Others included Mr. Agyare Koi Larbi, Mr. Amadu Kaleem, Mr. Awonor-Williams, Mr. K. G. Osei Bonsu, Alhaji Bin Sali, Mr. Imoro Salifu, Alhaji Ishahak, Dr. Kwame Ado-Kufuor, Mr. Dan Botwe (who succeeded Mr. Agyenim Boateng as General Secretary), Alhaji R. I. Al-Hassan, Mr. Ansa Asare, Mr. Bawa D’Yaka, Mr. Antwi Adjei and Mr. Kakra Essamuah. These personalities and many others, together with Mr. B. J. da Rocha, the un-official living father of the NPP, were in the fore front of the formation of the NPP and worked diligently and selflessly to bring the party into being. I hasten to add that the names listed here are not in any order of importance.

There is also a special group of major actors who risked not only their lives under those insecure circumstances to attend meetings of the PP group and its committees and sub-committees, but actually volunteered their residences for such meetings. These include Dr. Amoako Tuffuor who hosted meetings of the policy committee, and Hackman Owusu-Agyeman who hosted meetings of the manifesto and constitutional sub-committee. Others such as Nana Ado-Danquah Akufo Addo and Nana Awuku volunteered their hotel premises for committee meetings and one of such hotels (Ringway hotel) actually suffered substantial damages when a bomb exploded in it. Some public servants such as Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo even lost their jobs for openly associating with the activities of the emerging party.

There were several other unsung heroes who worked diligently behind the scenes to bring the party into being. In this regard, I wish to pay tribute to Prof. J. K. Atta, Prof. K. K. Oduro Prof. Kwame Boafo-Arthur, Prof. Cletus Dodornu, Dr. Charles Jebuni and Ms Abene Oduro who all played prominent roles in the think tank headed by Prof. Folson to provide background papers and information for the emerging party. Such background papers particularly constituted a major input to the party’s first manifesto. In this respect mention must be made of Dr. Konadu Apreku for his valuable input into the party’s first manifesto and to Prof. Albert Adu Boahene who read through all the drafts of that manifesto and provided useful comments, criticisms and suggestions.

Special tribute must also be paid to all those who signed the document on the application for the registration of a political party. They became the party’s founding members as required by law in the application for the registration of a political party. Many of those who signed the document were ordinary party loyalists of the “Progress Party” throughout the regions and districts of the country. They continue to provide the bedrock of the NPP in the cities, towns and villages throughout the country. Obviously not all those who were eager and willing to sign the forms could do so as the number required was limited. Therefore, it is pertinent to distinguish between these founding members from the additional founding members stipulated in the party’s first constitution in which a founding member of the party was described as one who contributed materially, financially, intellectually and through other means to bring the party into being and in addition, and most importantly, also paid a prescribed founding member’s fee. To be of good standing, founding members were required to pay a prescribed fee to the party annually. Some of the founding members who signed the application for registration form also became the party’s fee paying founding members. Founding members’ certificates were issued to all such members at a ceremony at the Golden Tulip hotel in 1993 as part of the first anniversary celebrations of the formation of the party. Others who subsequently paid the prescribed fee beyond the foundation year were later classified as patrons of the party.

The Resilience of the Danquah/Busia Tradition

As stated earlier on, the resilience of the Danquah/Busia (UP) tradition accounted for the smooth formation of the NPP and that resilience stem from the efforts of the founding fathers of the party. The tradition is firmly rooted in the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the premiere political movement against colonialism in Ghana, led by Dr. J. B. Danquah. Until its invited general secretary, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, broke away to form the Convention Peoples Party (CPP) it was the only political movement in the country. Many of the dignitaries of this movement were carried forward into the United Party (UP) that brought together all the post independent opposition parties. This further deepened and widened the space of the dignitaries in the UP throughout the country and their influence in society established its resilience from which the NPP benefited during its formation.

The Progress Party (PP), led by the Right Honourable Kofi Abrefa Busia became the successor party of the UP and also the first in the tradition to taste government power in Ghana from 1969 to 1972. Much of the resilience of the tradition is due to the steadfastness, dedication and loyalty of members of the Progress Party after its overthrow in January 1972. In Busia’s words they became each others brother’s keeper and kept the party going underground throughout the military rules in this country. Once again tribute must be paid to Mr. B. J. da Rocha for playing a major role in this venture. In deed, in the process, he sadly lost his brother during the National Redemption Council (NRC) military regime. At the risk of repetitiveness, there are several names that could be mentioned here: Nana Baffuor Akoto, Nana Awuku, Prof. Ofosu Armah, Mr. S. D. Dombo, Alhaji Osman (MAP), S. G. Antor, Mr. Victor Owusu, Mr. Kwesi Lamptey, Mr. J. A. Braimah, Mr. Richard Quashie, Alhaji Yakubu Tali (Tolon-Na), Prof. Yaw Twumasi (who was brutalized and thrown into jail for alledgedly aiding and abetting attempts to overthrow the NRC military regime), Prof. Adzei Bekoe, Alhaji B. K. Adama, Mr. Haruna Esseku, Mr. Jato Kaleo, Mr. J. H. Mensah, Mr. Abaifa Karbo, Dr. Dr. Dzana Selby, Jones Ofori Atta, Mr. Sackey Schek, His Excellency Mr. J. A. Kuffuor, Mr. Appiah Menka, Alhaji Shaani Mahama, Mr. Stephen Kreku, Prof. John Fynn, Mr. Cockra, Mr. Adam Amande, Mr. Gyebi Ofosu, Madam Broadbased, Ms. Ama Busia, Hajia Mariama Sanpaga, Alhaji Salifu Abdulrahman, COP, Mrs. Mariama Arko, Alhaji Adam Gariba and all the ministers, deputy ministers party officials and functionaries of the Progress Party.

Indeed, through their efforts the DanquahBusia tradition became attractive to many who originally did not belong to this tradition. Even though the meetings at Mr. Stephen Kreku’s house were intended to revive the Progress Party and to avoid the split that occurred in the ranks of the party in 1979, it must be noted that the attractiveness of the tradition as well as its openness enabled many non-believers to change their minds and to join the train of the tradition at various stages of its journey. There are many loyal followers of the tradition who can cite examples from their backyards. In my own backyard, Alhaji Yahaya Iddi, the first CPP chairman in Tamale, joined the Progress Party in 1969; His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Alhaji Amadu Aminu and the late Alhaji B. A. Fuseini joined the Popular Front Partyin 1979 from their CPP and National Alliance of Liberals (NAL) background; while Alhaji Al-Hassan Malik Yakubu joined the NPP in 1992 from the CPP, NAL and Social Democratic Front (SDF) background and became the party’s youth leader. In other words, there were a few who attended the meetings of the PP group even though they originally did not belong to the Progress Party.

In the formation of the NPP, there were many others who were aggrieved with the PNDC military regime and found ready home in the emerging NPP. These included ex-military men, ex-policemen and other members of the security apparatus, and students and student leaders who incurred the wrath of the regime, particularly when they protested against the closure of the Universities. Most of such people actually went into exile. Others in the diaspora came home with their written manifestos to form their own parties but found the force of the Danquah/Busia train unstoppable and abandoned their plans and jumped on board. Some were deliberately invited to join the emerging party. For example, at one of our meetings, the policy committee decided to invite Mr. Kwame Pianim to join the group after he had been released from prison. A delegation led by Mr. Appiah Menkah did so and he readily obliged. In the end they all added to the resilience of the tradition.

Major Events

Several meetings were held by the committees and the interim national executive committee in preparation for the formation of the party. While one cannot give details of all these meetings, one crucial meeting needs to be mentioned: that was the meeting held at the Ringway Hotel in the middle of June 1992 to discuss the name, the slogan/motto and the symbol and colours of the emerging party. After a heated debate, the meeting settled on the “National Patriotic Party” for the name, “Development in Freedom” as the motto and red, white and blue with elephant in the middle as symbol and colours.

However, at a press conference to outdoor the party at the same venue the following day, the interim chairman, Mr. B. J. da Rocha announced the name of the party as the “New Patriotic Party (NPP)” and dropped the “National” to the surprise of all of us who were present at the previous day’s meeting. He later explained that many of the parties that had been formed in Ghana, following the lifting of the ban on party politics had “National” in them and he thought our party should sound different. Besides, the new name rhymed more with the Progress Party and quickly captured the imagination and approval of PP loyalists throughout the country.

The registration of the new party of the Danquah/Busia tradition constituted another major event. The form for the registration of political parties was completed and submitted to the Interim National Electoral Commission (INEC) on 23rd June, 1992 together with a non-refundable registration fee of five hundred thousand cedis (¢500,000.00). The NPP received its certificate of registration later on 28th July, 1992.

The certificate of registration enabled the party to prepare feverishly for the first National Congress of the party which was held at the Great Hall, University of Ghana, in the middle of August, 1992. It was a multipurpose congress to perform a number of tasks: (i) to outdoor and approve the party’s constitution; (ii) to outdoor the party’s manifesto for the 1992 general elections; (iii) to elect national officers; and, (iv) to elect the party’s presidential candidate. It should be stated here that it was an extraordinary congress by the nature of its colourfulness and the enthusiasm of all who were present, including diplomats, local and international media. The convivial atmosphere under which it was held underlined the true democratic credentials of the Danquah/Busia tradition. It is doubtful whether the party will ever see such a congress again in the foreseeable future.

Perhaps the saddest event in the short history of the party was the conduct of the 1992 presidential elections in which the overwhelming opinion of party members and most neutrals was that victory was stolen by the ruling Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC) whose leader, Flt. Lieutenant J. J. Rawlings was also the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). In fact, victory was not only stolen but also many of our supporters were assaulted and brutalized throughout the country. This led to the boycott by the party of the parliamentary elections that formed the second stage of the general elections. In the event, the party wrote a book entitled “The Stolen Verdict” which comprehensively recounted all the events and incidents that led to the conclusion that indeed the verdict was actually stolen.

At this juncture, I wish to take advantage of my authorship of this paper to pay special tribute to Alhaji Salifu Appiah whose bravery and driving skills prevented me and my monitoring team from becoming major casualties of the presidential elections in 1992, when the NDC thugs attacked us at a polling station at Katariga and left us with wounds and bodily pains. I have never seen a driver drive so fast in reverse gear nor have I ever seen the maneuvers he negotiated to get us to safety. Nevertheless, the windows of our vehicle were smashed and even though we reported to the police in Tamale, they merely gave us medical forms to go to the hospital and no further action was taken.

Living in Opposition - Without Representation in Parliament

Following the “stolen verdict” in November 1992, the party chose not to go to the streets and risk the lives of its teaming supporters under a military regime that was noted to be very brutal. Perhaps the decision was taken with the benefit of hindsight as the unofficial instantaneous reaction of the women’s wing of the party was brutally quelled by the regime. After boycotting the parliamentary elections, the party was back to the reality of facing life in opposition for four long years without representation in parliament.

In the process, the party adopted survival strategies that included regular meetings of the national executive committee, press conferences on major events, committees to monitor and discuss activities of various sectors of government, court actions in some cases to address activities of government that were deemed to be unconstitutional, socializing as much as possible to keep members in touch with each other, for examples, funerals, weddings, outdoorings, book launches and fund raising activities. The enthusiasm and dedication to responsibilities by members of the various committees was highly commendable. The committees provided the necessary background information to make our press conferences based on solid facts that went unchallenged.

It is important to note that most of our founding members were of good standing. They paid their founding members dues regularly to keep the NPP afloat. It is also pertinent to commend the elected national officers in particular, and all members of the national executive committee of the NPP, in the difficult years of the party’s stay in opposition from 1992 to 2000. Many a time they had to dip their hands deep into their pockets to make impromptu contributions to solve emergency financial problems of the party, without complaining. Above all, the party’s first three national chairmen, while we were in opposition (Messrs B. J. da Rocha, Peter Ala Adjetey and Samuel Odoi-Sykes) need to be commended most highly. Our constitution also made the chairman the leader of the party and the survival of the party in opposition really rested on their shoulders. Fortunately their shoulders were broad enough to carry their responsibilities to the party. In particular, the payment of the administrative staff at the party’s headquarters became a major problem and all of them virtually met this wage bill from their own pockets. Besides much of the money that went into the organization of the party’s annual national congress, and the special congresses to elect the presidential candidates of the party, came from their own pockets.

Achievements in Opposition

Perhaps the number one major achievement of the NPP was that the party survived, held on to its core members, and worked hard to ascend to the status of a ruling party. The party survived mainly due to the ingenuity, dedication and hard work of its able leadership. The enthusiasm with which members attended meetings regularly at all levels, be they national executive committee, national council or sector committee meetings, was a source of encouragement to the rank and file of the party who turned out in their numbers at the party’s press conferences and other activities. In deed, the regular press conferences helped the party to work as an opposition outside parliament and kept the NDC government on its toes throughout the four-year period of the first parliament of the fourth republic. Above all, the party, without fail, held its annual congress every year for the elected national officers to account for their stewardship. The annual congress served a very useful purpose of bringing the rank and file together to renew their faith in the NPP.

The other major achievement was the party’s ability to work for the achievement of a level playing field for subsequent elections. The party did not just fold its hands and sat back to wait for the next general elections. The National Chairman, Mr. B. J. da Rocha, actually initiated a dialogue with the ruling NDC government with the main aim of pressing for electoral reforms that will lead to a transparent electoral system and thereby save the country from electoral disputes in future. The party can take a lot of the credit for the institution of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), the introduction of transparent ballot boxes into our electoral system, the introduction of photo identification cards and register and other electoral reforms, since 1992. Thus, through the party’s efforts we now have an electoral system which can be described as the most transparent in Africa if not the world. It is only a careless party that does not have vigilant representation at the polling and collation stations that may ignorantly suspect and complain of electoral fraud.

NPP – The Party in Government

By way of conclusion, it should be stated that under the gentle, enlightened, mature, understanding and indefatigable leadership of his Excellency John Agyekum Kufour, the party has demonstrated its credentials, not only as a rational amalgamated conservative liberal democratic party that upholds human rights and the rule of law, but it has also abundantly demonstrated its credentials as a developmental party that the founding fathers of the Danquah/Busia tradition intended it to be. The efforts that have been made to bring permanent positive change to the lives of Ghanaians, particularly those in the rural areas, are reminiscent to those of the government of the Progress Party, the only other party of the tradition that has ever been in government for a brief period in Ghana’s fifty years of independence. We are all living witnesses to the NPP government’s positive achievements and call tell our own stories.

* In preparing this speech, the author relied on his experiences as an ardent follower of the Danquah/Busia tradition and his services to parties of the tradition. During the formation of the NPP, he served as a member/secretary of the policy committee of the Progress Party group as well its manifesto, constitutional and sub-constitutional committees, and the think tank. He subsequently served on the national executive committee, the national council, a number of sector committees, and was elected the second national vice-chairman in 1998. For family reasons, he sojourned briefly in the NDC from March 2004 to March 2006 during which he served as the Member of Parliament for Tamale Central Constituency. The author is grateful to a few knowledgeable elders of the party who read earlier drafts of the paper and made useful comments, criticisms and suggestions. In spite of this, all errors, omissions and commissions are entirely his.