By Alex Ababio
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has approved 14 constitutional amendments that significantly alter the party’s leadership structure, internal elections, campaign organisation, digital administration and participation in national decision-making.
The changes were approved by delegates at the NPP’s National Delegates Conference at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on Saturday, October 3, 2026, as the party simultaneously elected new national officers.
The amendments were passed by voice vote after the Constitution Amendment Committee, chaired by Frank Davies, presented the motions. More than 7,000 delegates were at the conference, with 7,163 delegates expected to participate in the national executive elections across 31 polling stations. The Electoral Commission was supervising delegate verification and the elections.
The changes are significant because they come after another major constitutional review in 2025 and only months after the party changed its leadership arrangement in January 2026.
From National Chairman to presidential candidate
The most consequential change concerns who leads the NPP.
Under the newly approved Motion Ten, when the party has an elected presidential candidate, that presidential candidate becomes the leader of the party.
However, the amendment contains an important qualification. When the NPP is in government, the President remains the party’s leader until a new presidential candidate is elected. The amendment therefore establishes different leadership arrangements depending on the party’s electoral and governmental status.
This is a reversal of the position introduced at the NPP’s January 31, 2026 conference, when the National Chairman was designated leader of the party at all material times.
The timing matters.
On January 31, 2026, former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia won the NPP presidential primary with 110,643 votes, representing 56.48% of valid votes, and became the party’s presidential candidate for the 2028 election.
The new constitutional arrangement therefore places the person who has already secured the NPP’s presidential nomination at the centre of the party’s political leadership.
But it does not abolish the role of the National Chairman. Instead, the amendment creates a clearer separation between the party’s political leadership and its organisational machinery.
Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Jalil Ateku, had argued before the conference that the flagbearer should lead the party when it is in opposition, while the President should lead when the party is in government. He said the arrangement would provide clarity over who is in charge.
Campaign power moves closer to the flagbearer
Another amendment gives the presidential candidate greater formal authority over the national campaign.
Motion Nine states that the Presidential Candidate, in consultation with the National Executive Committee, will develop the campaign structure for the presidential election and appoint the chairperson and members of the National Campaign Advisory Committee, subject to approval by the National Council.
This is an important institutional change because it connects the person responsible for winning the presidential election directly to the architecture of the campaign.
It also retains institutional checks. The presidential candidate does not have unrestricted authority: consultation with the National Executive Committee and approval by the National Council remain part of the process.
Dr Samuel Afriyie, a political analyst and senior lecturer at Kumasi Technical University, had publicly supported a flagbearer-led structure before the conference. He argued that the arrangement could strengthen cohesion because of possible differences between a presidential candidate and party executives.
Vice Chairpersons will no longer be ranked from one contest
The structure of the three elected National Vice-Chairperson positions has also changed.
Under the previous arrangement, candidates contested a common Vice-Chairperson contest, with the first three candidates by votes becoming First, Second and Third Vice-Chairpersons.
Motion Twelve now makes the three offices separate elective positions. Candidates must identify the particular position they want to contest when they file their nominations.
This means delegates will separately determine who occupies the First, Second and Third Vice-Chairperson positions rather than creating a ranking from one general contest.
The amendment also introduces three additional appointed National Vice-Chairpersons, bringing the total to six — three elected and three appointed.
The appointed vice-chairpersons will not be eligible to succeed to the National Chairmanship. The constitutional proposal says the arrangement is intended partly to improve mobilisation and geographical, ethnic, religious and gender balance in national leadership.
IT moves from the technical room into party governance
The NPP is also formally expanding the political role of information technology.
Motion Three makes the Regional and Constituency IT Officers members of their respective executive committees.
The amendment cites the increasing importance of technology, information and data in party administration and electoral activities. It specifically identifies data management, digital coordination, accountability, information security and electoral preparedness as areas affected by the change.
This is more than a change in job title.
Political parties increasingly depend on databases, digital communication, voter information, campaign technology and rapid information management. By placing IT officers within executive structures, the NPP is giving technology a formal position in its internal governance.
Communications structure expands
The party has also created additional communications positions.
Motion Four provides for Deputy Regional Communications Officers and Deputy Constituency Communications Officers to serve on the relevant executive committees.
The amendment follows changes that made Regional and Constituency Communications Officers elective positions. The constitutional document says the expanded communications structure has increased the number of party communicators requiring coordination.
The changes therefore create a larger communications chain stretching from constituency and regional structures to the national level.
Elders and patrons gain voting rights
Two amendments expand participation at the National Delegates Conference.
Motion Six gives Regional Council of Elders chairpersons voting rights at the National Delegates Conference.
Motion Seven does the same for chairpersons of Regional Patrons.
The NPP’s stated reasoning is that Regional Council of Elders chairpersons already sit on Regional Steering Committees, where other members have voting rights, while patrons provide financial and other support to the party.
The changes could therefore alter the composition of the party’s formal decision-making electorate by bringing additional senior and patron representatives into voting processes.
More representation at constituency and regional levels
The restructuring is not limited to national leadership.
Motion Two provides for an additional Constituency Vice-Chairperson on each Constituency Executive Committee.
Motion Five provides for two additional Regional Vice-Chairpersons on Regional Executive Committees.
The stated purpose is to broaden leadership participation, distribute responsibilities and improve coordination and administration.
Together, these provisions increase the number of leadership positions within the party’s organisational structure.
Administrative manual to define who does what
The NPP is also moving to formalise the duties of party officers.
Motion Eight mandates the National Council to provide an Administrative Manual containing the duties, responsibilities and functions of elected and non-elected officers at all levels.
The stated objective is to reduce duplication, conflicts over responsibilities and uncertainty about the roles of party officials.
For a political organisation with national, regional, constituency, electoral-area and polling-station structures, such a manual could become an important internal governance document.
President returns to the National Steering Committee
Motion Thirteen reinstates the President as a member of the National Steering Committee when the NPP is in government.
The constitutional rationale is to improve coordination between the party and government and facilitate consultation on political and governance matters.
This provision is linked directly to the new leadership framework: when the party is in government, the President is the party leader until a new presidential candidate is elected.
Women’s participation becomes a formal party mandate
Motion Fourteen gives the NPP Women’s Wing a specific constitutional responsibility to promote women’s participation in politics in accordance with the Affirmative Action (Gender Equity) Act, 2024 (Act 1121).
The amendment says the Women’s Wing will have an institutional basis to promote, monitor and support the progressive achievement of women’s participation in political leadership.
This connects the party’s internal structure to Ghana’s broader legal framework on gender equity.
What prompted the latest review?
Frank Davies, chairman of the Constitution Amendment Committee, said the latest amendments were intended to correct gaps left by the previous review.
“These limited constitutional amendments were necessitated by some acts of omission and commission, which heralded the last amendment we had in 2025, so this is to cure the grey areas that we overlooked,” Davies said.
He also said the amendments were important because of their implications for the party’s organisational structure.
The latest changes follow the NPP’s extensive 2025 constitutional reform exercise, during which delegates approved 54 reforms covering internal elections, grassroots participation, executive structures and campaign organisation.
That history is important because the 2026 amendments are not a stand-alone restructuring. They are another stage in an ongoing attempt by the NPP to redefine how authority, representation and campaign responsibility are distributed within the party.
The 14 changes at a glance
The approved amendments:
1. Increase National Council of Elders representation on the National Disciplinary Committee from one to two members.
2. Add one Constituency Vice-Chairperson.
3. Make Regional and Constituency IT Officers members of their executive committees.
4. Create Deputy Regional and Deputy Constituency Communications Officer positions.
5. Add two Regional Vice-Chairpersons.
6. Give Regional Council of Elders chairpersons voting rights at the National Delegates Conference.
7. Give Regional Patrons’ chairpersons voting rights.
8. Require an Administrative Manual defining officers’ duties.
9. Give the Presidential Candidate a central role in developing the campaign structure, subject to consultation and approval requirements.
10. Make the elected Presidential Candidate the party leader, while the President leads when the party is in government until a new candidate is elected.
11. Create three appointed National Vice-Chairpersons in addition to the three elected positions.
12. Make First, Second and Third National Vice-Chairpersons separate elective positions.
13. Reinstate the President as a member of the National Steering Committee when the party is in government.
14. Give the Women’s Wing a constitutional mandate to promote women’s political participation under Act 1121.
The amendments were followed by the election of national officers, with delegates voting on nine executive positions, including National Chairperson, Vice-Chairpersons, General Secretary, National Organiser, National Women’s Organiser, National Youth Organiser, National Nasara Organiser, National Treasurer and National Communications Director.
The central issue emerging from the Kumasi conference is therefore not simply that the NPP has changed its constitution. It is that the party has redesigned the relationship between its presidential candidate, national executives, campaign machinery, regional structures and party-government interface.
With Dr Mahamudu Bawumia already elected as the NPP’s 2028 presidential candidate, the new provisions give the flagbearer a formally defined leadership role while preserving institutional responsibilities for the National Council, National Executive Committee and other party organs.
For the NPP, the next test will be how these provisions operate in practice — particularly how the presidential candidate works with the newly elected national executives, how the expanded leadership structure is coordinated, and whether the new rules reduce the ambiguities that the Constitution Amendment Committee says the latest reforms were designed to address.