Deputy General Secretary in charge of Operations for Ghana's ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande says the party must closely study the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) recent national delegates congress for strategic lessons ahead of the next phase of Ghana’s political contest.

Mr Gbande said the NDC, as the governing party and the traditional alternative to the NPP, has a responsibility to examine the outcome of the opposition party’s internal elections and assess its wider political implications.

Speaking about the NPP’s congress, he congratulated the party and its newly elected executives, describing the exercise as one of the more peaceful congresses the party has organised in recent times.

“I think that we are students of politics who have to learn and as a traditional alternative to the NPP. It’s grounded in good faith that we congratulate them,” he said.

He added that the congress had concluded without some of the incidents that have characterised previous internal contests.

“It’s one of the most peaceful congresses they have organised for some time now. It’s finished without the usual violence, somebody dying and all of that,” he said.

The NPP elected John Boadu as its National Chairman, while Justin Kodua Frimpong retained his position as General Secretary.

Other elected executives include Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover as National Organiser, Mavis Hawa Koomson as National Women’s Organiser and Dennis Miracles Aboagye as National Communications Director.

Mr Gbande said the NPP had completed its internal process and chosen the leadership it wanted, but argued that the wider political implications of the new team required closer analysis.

“Whichever way you look at it, they have elected their kind of executive. They have got what they wanted. How does that resonate with the larger political spectrum is another thing,” he said.

He therefore congratulated the newly elected executives.

“And so we congratulate them and our colleagues who have just been made executives as well,” he added.

NDC strategy

Mr Gbande said the NPP’s constitutional amendments and the conduct of senior party figures during the congress were among the issues he was monitoring from the NDC’s strategic perspective.

“I have checked on their amendments, I have checked the body language of senior persons at the congress. It means a lot to me at the table of strategy so far as NDC is concerned,” he said.

The NPP approved 14 constitutional amendments during the congress, including changes affecting party leadership, campaign structures, national vice chairmanship positions and other aspects of the party’s organisation.

Mr Gbande said his assessment of the congress had already revealed what he described as “two or three clear things and messages” that could be examined from the NPP’s latest internal exercise.

He indicated that the NDC’s assessment should go beyond the identities of the newly elected executives and consider what the changes mean for the broader political contest.

The NPP’s new leadership will now oversee the party’s organisation as it prepares for the 2028 general elections, while the NDC continues to manage its own internal structures as the governing party.