By Lawrence Odoom
The government has thrown its weight behind a constitutional challenge seeking to dismantle Ghana’s long-standing delegate system, arguing that all registered party members in good standing should possess the right to vote in internal primaries.
Deputy Attorney General Justice Srem-Sai announced that the state has formally filed legal arguments supporting the plaintiffs in what he described as “one of the most impactful constitutional law cases in the 4th Republic” — the Anti-delegate System (ADS) case.
The suit was initiated by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe, and Dr. Christine Amoako-Nuamah, with legal representation from Barker-Vormawor and Associates.
“Yesterday, we filed our argument in what, I think, is one of the most impactful constitutional law cases in the 4th Republic – the Anti-delegate System (ADS) case,” Dr. Srem-Sai wrote in a post on X.
At the heart of the case is a constitutional question of political inclusion. The plaintiffs are petitioning the Supreme Court to affirm that “all registered members in good standing of a political party are entitled to vote in the party’s primaries.”
“We believe that the declaration, if made by the Supreme Court, will considerably improve our democracy in many ways. We argued in support of the Plaintiff’s case,” Srem-Sai added.
For decades, Ghana’s two dominant political parties , the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party, have relied on a delegate structure to select national executives, flagbearers, and parliamentary candidates. Under this model, voting rights are confined to a select group of delegates rather than extended to the broader party membership.
Detractors contend that the system entrenches elitism, facilitates vote-buying, and stifles grassroots participation, thereby eroding the democratic ethos within party ranks.
Proponents, however, argue that the delegate framework provides administrative efficiency and mitigates the logistical burdens of conducting mass internal elections.
Amid mounting pressure for reform, the NPP expanded its electoral college ahead of its internal contests last year, a move party officials said was designed to deepen grassroots engagement and broaden representation.
The Supreme Court’s impending decision will now determine whether restricting suffrage in party primaries to a limited delegate corps aligns with constitutional guarantees of political participation and democratic governance.