New Patriotic Party

New Patriotic Party Twi: Ahofama Foforo Kuw
Leader	Nana Akufo-Addo
Chairman	Stephen Ayensu Ntim[1]
General Secretary	Justin Frimpong-Kodua[1]
Founded	28 July 1992
Preceded by	UGCC, United Party(UP), Progress Party
Headquarters	Accra
Student wing	TESCON
Youth wing	NPP Youth Wing
Muslim wing	Nasara
Women's Wing	NPP Women's Wing
Ideology	Liberal conservatism Conservatism[2] Liberalism[3]
Political position	Centre-right
Regional affiliation	Democrat Union of Africa
International affiliation	International Democrat Union
Colors	Red, White, Blue
Slogan	Development in Freedom
Parliament	137 / 275
Pan African Parliament	2 / 5
Election symbol
African Elephant
Party flag
Website
newpatrioticparty.org
Politics of Ghana Political parties Elections Danquah-Dombo-Busia Tradition

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is a centre-right and liberal-conservative political party in Ghana.^[4][5][6] Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian politics, with its leading rival being the centre-left National Democratic Congress (NDC).^[7][8] John Kufuor of the NPP was President of Ghana from 2001 to 2009.^[9][10] At the elections held on 7 December 2004, the party won 129 out of 230 seats.^[9] The NPP candidate was Kufuor, who was re-elected as president with 52.75% of the vote. The New Patriotic Party symbol is the African elephant and the New Patriotic Party colours are red, white, and blue.

In the 2008 general election, the NPP candidate Nana Akufo-Addo conceded to losing in the closely contested presidential election runoff amidst accusations of vote rigging, with Akufo-Addo receiving 49.77% of the votes, versus 50.23% for John Atta Mills, the NDC candidate. In the 2012 general election, the NPP faced a similar situation from vote results provided by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC). Nana Akufo-Addo received 47.74% of the vote, while NDC candidate John Mahama received 50.7% amidst accusations of electoral fraud.^[11] Akufo-Addo was chosen as the NPP's candidate for a third time in the 2016 elections and defeated Mahama in the first round (winning 53.83% of the votes).^[12]

The New Patriotic Party has so far contested every national general election in Ghana since the commencement of the fourth republic in 1992, with the exception of the parliamentary elections of 1992.^[13] The New Patriotic boycotted the 1992 parliamentary elections, alleging that the 1992 presidential election held earlier was rigged. The New Patriotic Party wrote a book title 'Stolen Verdict' to register its protest against the 1992 presidential election.^[14]

The New Patriotic Party is considered as an offshoot of the United Gold Coast Convention, which effectively evolved into the United Party in the late 1950s, the Progress Party in the late 1960s, the Popular Front Party in the 1970s and the All People's Party in the early 1980s.[1]

After more than a decade of military rule by Jerry John Rawlings, the government, along with some stakeholders, drafted a constitution for which a Referendum election was organized. After the people of Ghana approved the new constitution in an election (held on 28 April 1992), the ban on party politics in Ghana was lifted, allowing other parties including the NPP to be officially launched. The NPP's flagbearer was Professor Albert Adu Boahen, a scholar and a long-time critic of the Rawlings military government. However, the NPP lost the 1992 election overwhelmingly to the Progressive alliance of the National Democratic Congress, Eagle and the National Convention Party whose candidate was Jerry John Rawlings. The NPP boycotted the parliamentary elections and hence won no seats in the new Parliament.^[15]

The NPP also lost the 1996 elections again to Rawlings' party but this time, their flagbearer was John Kufuor. In the 2000 and 2004 elections, John Kufuor won both elections ushering in a new government for the first time in the fourth republic of Ghana.