Obiri Boahen calls for reforms in NPP’s electoral process

A leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Obiri Boahen, has advocated the election of party officials and flag bearer by paid-up card-bearing members of the party to ensure an inclusive and transparent process.

Nana Boahen said opening up the internal elections of the party to paid-up card-bearing members of the party would help eliminate the influence of money.

Nana Boahen, a legal practitioner and former Minister of State, was sharing his thoughts with the Daily Graphic on some of the reforms that could be adopted by the party.

"We should allow all paid-up, card-bearing members to vote, without the influence of money in our politics," Nana Boahen stressed.

He said the current system of voting in the party, which was restricted to a select group of delegates, could be vulnerable to manipulation and monetisation.

Technology

Nana Boahen also called on the party to adopt the use of technology for voting in the party’s internal elections to enhance an inclusive and transparent electoral process.

“With the level of technology we have today, it's surprising that we're not using electronic voting or pre-voting systems,” he said, adding: “This will allow all paid-up members to participate in the voting process, regardless of their location.”

He said the call for all paid-up card-bearing members of the party to vote and the use of technology in voting had been his position since 2012 as that would take away manipulation and monetisation out of our politics.

He suggested that the party maintained a well-comprehensive constituency register, which would allow members to verify their eligibility to vote.

Nana Boahen, a former Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, also welcomed the decision by the party to set up a review committee to conduct a thorough post-mortem analysis of the party's defeat in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

He urged all party faithful to remain calm as they await the recommendations of the committee.