The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Frimpong Kodua, has admitted that the party has struggled with communication over the years, a challenge he says contributed to its inability to effectively respond to major national issues and defend its record in government.
Speaking on Adom TV’s Badwam, Mr. Kodua said the party failed to properly communicate its position on controversial issues such as illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, and the National Cathedral project.
“We are creating a communication structure because when issues regarding galamsey, the National Cathedral and others came up, the NPP could not speak to them properly,” he said.
According to him, the situation exposed serious weaknesses within the party’s communication setup.
“So it tells you that as a party, we have serious issues with communication, especially with regards to how to defend propaganda against the party and also to be proactive in explaining the things you are doing as a government,” he stated.
Mr. Kodua noted that despite major government projects and policies introduced by the NPP administration, the party still lost the 2024 general election because it failed to effectively communicate its achievements to Ghanaians.
“In 2024, the same thing happened. We had initiatives like Year of Roads, Agenda 111 and Free SHS that alleviated hardships, yet we lost the election,” he said.
He explained that after reviewing the party’s challenges, the leadership realised that communication structures were often only activated during election periods, by which time negative narratives may have already gained ground.
“We sat down and carefully realised that we only create the communication team during electioneering periods, and by that time, any harm your opponent wants to cause would have been done already,” he added.
Mr. Kodua disclosed that as part of ongoing reforms within the party, a Communication Committee has now been formally included in the NPP’s constitution.
“That is why we now have a Communication Committee in our constitution as part of our reforms,” he revealed.
According to him, the committee, currently chaired by Nana Akomea, is expected to help ensure consistency and coordination in the party’s messaging.
“So now, even before the General Secretary talks, it has to be scripted. We have to be on the same page as a party when it comes to communication so that people will not be going right while others go left,” he stated.
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