Former First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Joseph Osei Owusu, says he accepted the role of chairing the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) presidential election committee, despite having retired from active politics, out of a firm conviction that the process must be fair, transparent and widely accepted.

Mr Osei Owusu said he deliberately withdrew from political activity after 2025 and declined most public engagements, except those of a personal nature.

“Frankly, you may have noticed that I totally recused myself from any political activity after 2025. I declined to speak on any matter,” he said.

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews on January 22, he explained that he agreed to chair the party’s national conference after reflecting on whether it would be right to step aside at a critical moment for the party.

“I asked myself, would it be fair to abandon the party? So I accepted to do it, with a conviction that if it must be done, it must be done well,” he stated.

Mr Osei Owusu said he was later approached again to chair the party’s presidential election committee, a responsibility he accepted after concluding that strong leadership was required to prevent the process from being undermined.

“There are times that if strong people don’t stand up, the whole structure may collapse. So, I accepted, and I decided to stand by,” he said.

He noted that the committee’s overriding objective has been to deliver a result that all contestants and party stakeholders can trust, despite intense pressure and competing interests.

“We felt persuaded that we must go and deliver a result which everyone would accept, and that we did a very good job. Decisions have had to be taken against all kinds of pressures,” he said.

According to him, the process began with the development of clear rules, which were shared, discussed and agreed upon with all contestants and their representatives.

“We brought the rules, we distributed them to all the contestants, and we went through the rules together, discussed and agreed that these are the rules we play by,” he explained.

Mr Osei Owusu stressed that consistent application of the rules was essential to building confidence among aspirants.

“If I allow you to breach the rules without sanction, then I have not provided a sufficient basis to be confident in me,” he added.

He also outlined how the committee handled the compilation of the delegates’ register, explaining that while the 2023 register was adopted, constitutional amendments allowed for the inclusion of new categories of delegates.

To avoid any perception of bias, he said contestants were involved at every stage of the verification process, from constituency-level checks to the resolution of disputes.

“At every step in the compilation of the register, we worked with consensus. At no point did we have to vote,” he said.

Mr Osei Owusu said the approach has reinforced confidence among contestants that the committee is committed to fairness, openness and transparency.

He added that the management of the voting process itself has been entrusted to the Electoral Commission, including the selection of polling stations, with all details shared with contestants for their input.

The NPP is preparing for its presidential primary as part of efforts to elect a flagbearer ahead of the next general election.