Ghana’s former deputy ambassador to China, Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah, is calling on political parties, especially the largest opposition, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), not to politicise the Supreme Court ruling on delegate-based electoral college systems used by political parties.
The NDC stalwart said the ruling is in the “supreme interest of Ghana’s democracy”.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, declared as unconstitutional the delegate-based electoral college systems used by political parties to elect their presidential and parliamentary candidates.
The court held that all members of a political party are entitled to vote in selecting presidential and parliamentary candidates for the general election.
A seven-member panel, presided over by the Chief Justice, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, held by a 5-2 majority that confining the vote to a narrow group of executives was unconstitutional.
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 had 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, which the Supreme Court, therefore, upheld.
Reacting to the development in an interview with Onua News, Ambassador Nii Ayi Ankrah said, “I strongly believe we shouldn’t politicise the Supreme Court’s decision. We should look at it as a victory for democracy.”
“They [the Supreme Court] are the best body to interpret the laws of the land, so if the Supreme Court is saying that the system that we have been using is unconstitutional, we simply have to respect that, but I think it is a supreme declaration by the Supreme Court to enhance our democracy,” he added.
He said this will ensure that more political party members are involved in the decision-making process by ensuring that all members of the party who are in good standing vote their leaders.
“It is going to help all the parties because all members of the parties in good standing will be able to vote and also have a feeling of belonging.”
Amb Ankrah added “We spend too much money in our campaigning, and everybody turns to do his or her best to save some money simply to share it with delegates. Where did you get the money? And also, how are you going to recoup that because nobody in this game is a father Christmas.”
“This ruling is going to reduce monetisation and vote buying in our political dispensation. Due to the huge membership of the parties, it will be difficult for anyone to engage in vote buying,” he explained.
The NDC stalwart added that “being in good standing is paying your dues and abiding by the party’s constitution, and so the apex court only looked at it as unconstitutional and what would help our democracy.”
By 1960news.com
