The Supreme Court has declared the delegate system used by Ghana’s political parties to elect their presidential and parliamentary candidates unconstitutional, ordering parties to adopt a more inclusive voting system that allows all eligible members to participate in internal elections.
In a 5-2 majority decision delivered on Wednesday, the apex court directed all political parties to introduce measures within one year to enable every member in good standing to vote in the selection of presidential and parliamentary candidates.
The ruling effectively abolishes the long-standing delegate system under which only selected party delegates voted on behalf of the wider membership during presidential and parliamentary primaries.
The decision arose from a suit filed in January 2026 by three senior politicians—Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe and Christine Amoako-Nuamah—who argued that restricting voting rights to a limited group of delegates violated the Constitution’s democratic principles.
The plaintiffs contended that the delegate system was inconsistent with Articles 1, 17, 42 and 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution, particularly Article 55(5), which requires political parties to organise themselves in accordance with democratic principles.
The Attorney-General supported the challenge, arguing that the delegate system did not sufficiently reflect the constitutional requirement for democratic internal party organisation. The two dissenting justices were Justice Asidu and Justice Gaewu.
The judgment is expected to have far-reaching implications for Ghana’s political landscape, requiring parties to amend their constitutions and internal electoral regulations to comply with the court’s directive.
Both the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), which have traditionally relied on delegate conferences to elect flagbearers and select parliamentary candidates, will now be required to redesign their internal electoral systems to accommodate universal participation by eligible party members.
The ruling is also expected to affect the election of party executives at various levels where delegate-based voting has been the norm.
Critics of the delegate system have long argued that it concentrates decision-making power in the hands of a relatively small group of delegates, excluding hundreds of thousands of ordinary party members from choosing the individuals who ultimately contest national elections.
However, some observers maintain that the principal challenge facing internal party democracy is the growing influence of money in politics rather than the size of the electoral college. They argue that expanding the voting base without reforms to campaign financing may not eliminate vote-buying and could increase the cost of contesting party primaries.
Political parties have one year from the date of the judgment to implement new electoral frameworks that comply with the Supreme Court’s directive.
