Three founding statespersons have filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the delegate-based systems used by Ghana’s major political parties to elect their presidential and parliamentary candidates.
The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 23, 2026, by cardiothoracic surgeon and Former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, veteran politician Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, and former Education Minister Dr. Christine Amoako-Nuamah , contends that the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) have replaced broad-based democracy with restricted electoral colleges.
Under current rules, only a small fraction of party executives, officeholders, and selected delegates are permitted to vote for presidential and parliamentary candidates. The plaintiffs argue that this system “severely disenfranchises” hundreds of thousands of rank-and-file members, creating what they describe as a “privileged voting class.”
“It would be constitutionally incoherent to demand equality and universality at the final election while tolerating exclusion and hierarchy at the decisive internal stage,” the writ states.
Constitutional Grounds
The suit, led by lawyer and activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor, invokes several provisions of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, including Articles 1, 17, 33(5), 35(6)(d), 42 and 55(5). The plaintiffs insist that the internal organization of political parties must mirror the democratic principles enshrined in the national charter, effectively requiring universal suffrage among party members for internal elections.
Specific party rules are targeted:
– NPP’s Article 13, which confines presidential selection to an electoral college.
– NDC’s Articles 43 and 44, which reinstate delegate structures over universal suffrage.
– CPP’s Articles 53, 96, and 77, which rely on a National Delegates Congress model.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has been joined as the fourth defendant. The plaintiffs accuse the body of failing to enforce Section 9(a) of the Political Parties Act, which requires parties to conform to democratic principles as a condition of registration.
With Ghana’s next election cycles looming, the timing of the suit is deliberate. The plaintiffs argue that the delegate system acts as a gatekeeper, determining who can access the highest offices in the Republic. By filtering candidates through a narrow elite, they say, the “chain of accountability” between citizens and the state is broken. The case, now before the Supreme Court, could reshape the internal mechanics of Ghana’s political parties — and, by extension, the country’s democratic landscape.
