By Daniel Bampoe
In a landmark ruling expected to fundamentally transform Ghana’s political landscape, the Supreme Court has declared the delegates system used by political parties to elect their presidential and parliamentary candidates unconstitutional, ordering that all duly registered card-bearing members be allowed to participate in future internal primaries.
The historic 5–2 majority decision, delivered on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, effectively dismantles the long-standing delegates-based electoral model that has governed internal elections in the political parties for decades.
The judgment is expected to compel the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and other registered political parties to amend their constitutions and internal electoral regulations before future presidential and parliamentary primaries.
The constitutional challenge was brought by former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, veteran politician Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, and former Minister of Education, Dr. Christine Amoako-Nuamah.
The three plaintiffs sued the NPP, the NDC, the CPP, the Electoral Commission and the Attorney-General, arguing that restricting the election of presidential and parliamentary candidates to a select group of delegates violated the 1992 Constitution.
They contended that Article 55(5) of the Constitution requires political parties to organise themselves in accordance with democratic principles and that limiting voting rights to delegates disenfranchised thousands of ordinary party members.
In its majority decision, the Supreme Court agreed with the plaintiffs, holding that political parties could no longer rely on the delegates system to elect parliamentary and presidential candidates.
Instead, the apex court ruled that every duly registered card-bearing member of a political party must be given the opportunity to vote during such internal elections.
The judgment represents one of the most consequential constitutional rulings affecting the democratic governance since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1993.
For decades, both the NPP and NDC have relied on delegates conferences, where selected party executives, constituency officers, polling station executives and other designated officials voted to elect parliamentary candidates and presidential flagbearers.
Critics of the system have long argued that it concentrated excessive power in the hands of a relatively small electoral college, making delegates susceptible to lobbying, inducements and internal party divisions while excluding the majority of grassroots members from selecting party leaders.
Supporters of the delegates system, however, have maintained that it helps political parties manage the cost and logistics of organising nationwide internal elections while ensuring experienced party officials make critical leadership decisions.
Ahead of the judgment, leading NPP member Dr. Arthur Kobina Kennedy described the case as an important opportunity for the Supreme Court to deepen the democratic credentials.
According to him, political parties should operate in a manner consistent with the constitutional requirement for democratic governance, arguing that broader participation by party members would strengthen transparency, accountability and public confidence in the political system.
