NPP At Crossroads As It Thinks Through Restructuring; A Bottom Up Approach or Top To Bottom Approach Towards Reorganising!

Even before the Prof Mike Ocquaye fact finding committee begins its work to unravel what might have occasioned the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) defeat in the 2024 general elections, high profile elements at the national headquarters as well as the regions have begun brainstorming about the additional steps that should be taken to enable the party to commence its reorganisation efforts.

While some of the party high ranking as well as lower ranking members are calling for a complete overhaul of the processes the party has been using to select executives at the polling station to the national levels, others have called for sobriety in seeking solutions to the issue.

Many believe that the delegates systm should be scrapped to make way for a bigger and larger group to make crucial decisions of the party at the grassroots level.

Some argue that limiting polling station executives to five where the mass of the people especially party members are found makes it easy for the select few to think of themselves or their personal interests in decison making endeavours.

However, some believe that a comprehensive top to bottom approach should be used in the restructuring process.

This means leaders of the party should be chosen from the national to the polling station level so that a controlled mechanism can be in place to streamline party activities including the other elections.

Interestingly, those who have this school of thought also believe that when such is carried through, rather than the known bottom up approach, there could be less or minimal levels of manipulation in the regional, constituency and polling station level elections to favour some privileged few.

They further argue that when the full structure is set in place, the party would be in good shape to select or elect its next flag-bearer on time to complete the process of regrouping, re-strategizing and reorganisation to recapture power in 2028.

Massive Exodus:
This writer is reliably informed that some current national executives do not want to continue their work in office again.

Currently, we can count about eight(8) or Nine (9) who intend to resist the temptation to contest for the positions they hold again with other planning to resign soon.

Vacuum:
With the attendant vacuum to be created it would be suicidal for the party to slack or stay without taking urgent steps to begin its restructuring processes from now.

The party, this writer believes would do well by beginning its national elections early so as to put up new faces as well as old persons whose work may have been exceptional in positions on time.

This, undoubtedly, would set the wheel of administration to continue its grind towards a full restructuring at the constituency, regional and polling station levels.

Timelines:
While the party waits on the Prof Ocquaye committee to finish its work, some hold the view that early timelines should be set in sight to begin the restructuring process.

With 2025 in view, it would not be prudent for the party to waste the whole year without recourse to beginning the process of regrouping.

And since the early bird catches the worm, the earlier the party sets its machine in motion right after April, where the findings of the Prof Ocquaye committee would be available, the better for the party in its attempt to perform the all important restructuring process including its reorganisation from the national to the polling station levels.

Source:Michael Ofosu-Afriyie, author and Ashanti regional editor for the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper 📰