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The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, has warned that the party risks being reduced to the status of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) if it fails to support its members and uphold its core principles.
Speaking at a panel discussion to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in Accra on Monday (August 4), Mr Owusu-Agyemang stressed the importance of unity and fidelity to the ideals that founded the party.
“I’m afraid, if we don’t support our people, if we don’t support our party, if we don’t do this, I’m afraid, they will reduce us to CPPism. We’ll be like the CPP,” Mr Owusu-Agyemang stated, highlighting the potential consequences of internal neglect.
He called for party members to unite and build a nation grounded in the vision of the UGCC’s founders. “They must be told, and we must all come together, to build a nation,” he urged, emphasising collective action as the path forward.
Mr Owusu-Agyemang also underscored the importance of leaving behind a lasting legacy for future generations.
“Our younger children, our children, and our children’s children will come and see that we have done something, and that this country is going forward,” he said.
He paid glowing tribute to the founding fathers of the UGCC, including Joseph Boakye Danquah, George Alfred Paa Grant, Obestebi Lamptey, Awoonor-Williams, and Edward Akufo-Addo. He called on the present generation of NPP leaders and members to emulate their sacrifices and rededicate themselves to rebuilding the party, strengthening democracy, and advancing national development.
“So, ladies and gentlemen, 78 years ago, the United Gold Coast Convention emerged, not merely as a party, but as a daring declaration that Ghanaians deserve to shape their own destiny,” he said.
Addressing the youth, he added, “To the youth of Ghana, the legacy calls you to action. Let us protect liberty, defend integrity, build economies that uplift the populace, reject divisions, and choose nationhood over faction, and never forget that freedom is not a relic, it is a responsibility.”
The panel discussion was organised by the Patriotic Institute (PI) in collaboration with the NPP’s National Council of Elders to foster dialogue on individual freedoms, ethical leadership, and youth-led solutions for Ghana’s development challenges.
A Deputy General Secretary of the NPP and Acting Coordinator of the PI, Dr Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, stated that the occasion was not merely ceremonial but a moment for introspection and intellectual renewal.
“As a centre-right democratic party, it is a period to remind ourselves of our ideals and the path, the roadmap that we have carved and what we want to follow. And this hinges on our enduring principles of freedom, liberty, free enterprise, and ethical governance in a property-owning democracy,” she said.
Other panellists included the Deputy Communications Director of the NPP, Hajia Rabiatu Salifu; non-executive of the Ghana Amalgamated Trust, Susana Ohene; Secretary to the NPP’s National Council of Elders, Kwadwo Afari; and Deputy Director of IT at the NPP Headquarters, Stephen Forson.
Founded in 1947, the UGCC was the first political movement in the then-Gold Coast to champion self-governance, laying the groundwork for Ghana’s eventual independence in 1957.
