The Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has stated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lacks credibility to make any impact in the 2028 general election.

“Will the NPP accept responsibility for the misuse and mismanagement of state resources while they were in government for eight years?” he asked.

Speaking in an interview about the successful conduct of the NPP’s regional executive elections, Mr Gbande said changing executives was a routine exercise for all political parties.

Culture

He said what the NPP did was not a new culture, stressing that the new executives were all old members of the party who contributed to the mess the country had found itself in.

He said the credibility of the party was critical to its success.

While commending the NPP for the peaceful conduct of the regional elections, Mr Gbande said they might have all the ideas but if they lacked credibility the party could never be successful.

He alleged that the flag bearer of the NPP, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, supported a number of candidates but those candidates lost.

He said the NPP election did not show the bottom up approach of reorganisation.

Mr Gbande said the NPP missed the moments and benefits of sober reflection after the humiliating defeat before reorganising, stressing that “they rather thought being evasive towards government will bring them together faster but that is also failing.”

New era

Mr Gbande said the country had moved to a new era of politics where the citizenry abhorred mismanagement, corruption and misuse of state resources.

He said the NDC government under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama was cleaning the mess the NPP left behind while in government.

Mr Gbande said while Ghanaians appreciated the lean government being operated by President Mahama, the NPP was very uncomfortable.

Background

The NPP successfully conducted its regional executive elections, with the outcome seen as more than an internal housekeeping exercise.

The post-2024 data shows a party that lost ground far beyond its traditional swing zones.

The collapse was steepest in the Greater Accra Region, from 21 parliamentary seats in 2016 to just five in 2024. 

In the Ashanti Region, which is the “heartbeat” of the party, the NPP lost eight of its 47 seats in that stronghold.

More worrying for strategists, the NDC’s vote share climbed from a ceiling of 28 per cent to 35 per cent. 

Belief

The NPP acknowledges that what unites them is the brief to rebuild trust with members, re-engage floating voters, and deliver parliamentary seats.

The party knows that its 2024 loss was not just organisational but was about voter perception of the economy, jobs and cost of living.