A rare cross-party courtesy visit ended without a solidarity message after the ruling party’s representatives left the Baba Yara Sports Stadium over the late start.
Representatives of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) left the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on Saturday before the New Patriotic Party (NPP) began its national executives election, and as a result never delivered the solidarity message they had been invited to read.
The NPP, currently the main opposition party, had invited the NDC to its internal polls in the Ashanti regional capital. Daily Guide Network reports that the invitation was accepted and that the NDC team did turn up at the venue, but departed before proceedings opened.
What went wrong
The reason given was the delay in starting the programme. People close to the NDC said the party's representatives were unhappy at how long the event was taking to get under way and left in frustration.
That meant the one task they had come to perform — reading a goodwill message on behalf of the ruling party — was never carried out.
The Master of Ceremonies, Anthony Karbo, announced the departure to delegates from the stage. He thanked the NDC for accepting the invitation in the first place, but said their exit was regrettable.
"It's unfortunate that their representatives couldn't sit through the programme," Karbo told delegates, adding that the NPP had information the group left before the event even commenced.
Karbo said he had expected the delegation to show more patience and remain for the duration of the programme.
Other parties stayed
A representative of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), a smaller party that also attended, used his own solidarity message to criticise the NDC's decision. He pointed out that other parties had waited through the same delay and said the walkout had damaged the NDC's image.
Why it matters
Exchanging invitations and solidarity messages at internal party elections is a long-standing courtesy in Ghanaian politics. It signals that competition between the two dominant parties stays within democratic limits, even when the rhetoric outside is sharp.
For Ghanaians following events from the United States and elsewhere, the detail worth noting is not the walkout itself but the setting. The NPP is rebuilding its national leadership structures after losing power, and it chose Kumasi — the heart of its traditional support base — to do it. Who attends, who speaks and who leaves early all become part of the political read on how the two parties are relating to each other going into the next cycle.
As of the time of this report, the NDC had not publicly explained its representatives' early departure. The NPP, for its part, proceeded with the election after the delegation left.
