Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, has cautioned that the party risks becoming irrelevant like the Convention People’s Party (CPP) if it fails to support its members and uphold its founding principles.
Speaking during a panel discussion to mark the 78th anniversary of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), Mr. Owusu-Agyemang stressed the importance of unity and loyalty to the party’s ideals.
“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,” he warned, underscoring the potential cost of internal neglect.
He urged party members to unite in nation-building, grounded in the values of the UGCC’s founders.
“They must be told, and we must all come together, to build a nation,” he said.
Legacy and Tribute
Mr. Owusu-Agyemang also highlighted the need to leave 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 noted.
He paid tribute to UGCC founding fathers including Joseph Boakye Danquah, George Alfred Paa Grant, Obestebi Lamptey, Awoonor-Williams, and Edward Akufo-Addo, urging today’s leaders to emulate their sacrifices.
“Seventy-eight 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.
To the youth, he added: “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. Never forget that freedom is not a relic—it is a responsibility.”
About the Event
The panel discussion was organised by the Patriotic Institute (PI) in collaboration with the NPP’s National Council of Elders, aimed at fostering dialogue on individual freedoms, ethical leadership, and youth-led solutions to Ghana’s development challenges.
Dr. Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, Deputy General Secretary of the NPP and Acting Coordinator of the PI, stated the event 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,” she said. “And this hinges on our enduring principles of freedom, liberty, free enterprise, and ethical governance in a property-owning democracy.”
Other panellists included Hajia Rabiatu Salifu, Deputy Communications Director of the NPP; Susana Ohene, non-executive of the Ghana Amalgamated Trust; Kwadwo Afari, Secretary to the NPP’s National Council of Elders; and Stephen Forson, Deputy Director of IT at the NPP Headquarters.
The UGCC Legacy
Founded in 1947, the United Gold Coast Convention was the first political movement in the then-Gold Coast to advocate for self-governance, laying the foundation for Ghana’s independence in 1957.
Source: Graphic.com.gh
