List of political parties in Ghana

This article lists political parties in Ghana.

Ghana has a multi-party system. However, there are two dominant political parties: the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party. It is extremely difficult for anyone to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party.^[1]

Regulation

Political parties in Ghana are regulated under the Political Parties Act 574 passed in 2000. This spells out how political parties may be founded, registered and operated. It also specifies how political parties may be funded in Ghana.^[2]

The parties in Ghana

Fourth Republic (1992-present)

As at June 2024, there are 27 political parties according to the Electoral Commission of Ghana.^[3][4] Of these, a total of 11 parties indicated their willingness to participate in the political programmes by the state broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation leading up to the 2020 Ghanaian general election.^[5] In 2018, there were 24 political parties listed on the website.^[6] There were 30 registered political parties on the list of the Electoral Commission of Ghana during the Fourth Republic in 2012.^[7][8]

Parliamentary parties

Name			Abbr.	Founded	Leader	Political position	Ideology	MPs
		New Patriotic Party	NPP	1992	Nana Akufo-Addo	Centre-right	Liberal conservatism Conservatism Liberalism	137 / 275
		National Democratic Congress	NDC	1992	Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo	Centre-left	Social democracy	137 / 275

Other active parties

The following parties were on the list of parties of the Electoral Commission of Ghana but not represented in parliament.

Name			Abbr.	Founded	Leader	Political position	Ideology	MPs	Last election	Comments
		All People's Congress	APC	2016	Hassan Ayariga			0	2020	Split from PNC
		Convention People's Party	CPP	1949 1996	Nana Frimpomaa Sarpong Kumankumah[9]			0	2020	Banned 1966, reformed 1996
		Democratic Freedom Party	DFP	2006	Obed Asamoah			N/A	2008	Merged with NDC in 2012[10]
		Democratic People's Party	DPP	1992	Thomas Nuako Ward-Brew				2016	No candidates in 2020
		Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere	EGLE	1992	Nana Yaw Boakye Ofori Atta				2004	Backed NDC in 2020 election
		Great Consolidated Popular Party	GCPP	1995	Daniel Augustus Lartey[11]			0	2020
		Ghana Democratic Republican Party	GDRP	1992	Kofi Amoah			N/A		Not involved in 2020 election
		Ghana Freedom Party	GFP	2012	Akua Donkor[9]			0	2020
		Ghana National Party	GNP	2007	Kobina Amo-Aidoo				2008	Not involved in 2020 election
		Ghana Union Movement	GUM	2019	Christian Kwabena Andrews[11]			0	2020
		Liberal Party of Ghana	LPG	2017	Kofi Akpaloo[12]			0	2020
		National Democratic Party	NDP	2012	Mohammed Frimpong[11]			0	2020	Split from NDC
		National Reform Party	NRP	1999	Peter Kpordugbe				2004	Split from NDC Not involved in 2020 election
		New Vision Party	NVP	2008	Daniel Yaw Nkansah					Not involved in 2020 election
		People's Action Party	PAP		Imoru Ayarna				1969	Not involved in 2020 election
		People's Destiny Party	PDP							Not involved in 2020 election
		People's National Convention	PNC	1992	Bernard Mornah[11]			0	2020
		Power Unity Party	PUP	2019	Eliahu Boateng			N/A		Not involved in 2020 election
		Progressive Alliance for Ghana	PAG	2024	John Enyonam Kwakwu Kpikpi[11]			N/A		Nkrumah tradition
		Progressive People's Party	PPP	2012	Kofi Asamoah Siaw[11]			0	2020
		Reformed Patriotic Democrats	RPD	2007				N/A	2008	Not active in 2020 election
		United Democratic Party	UDP		Yaw Kumey			N/A		Not involved in 2020 election
		United Development System Party	UDSP	2012	Tetteh Kabraham Early			N/A		Not active in 2020 election
		United Front Party	UFP	2011				N/A		No candidates in 2020 election
		United Ghana Movement	UGM	1996	Charles Wereko-Brobby				2000	Not active in 2020 election
		United Progressive Party	UPP	2016	Akwasi Addai Odike			0	2020
		United Renaissance Party	URP	2007	Eric Charles Kofi Wayo			N/A		Not active in 2020 election
		Yes People's Party	YPP	2012	Annin – Kofi Addo			N/A	2012	Not active in 2020 election
Parties in bold have been involved with the 2024 election process so far

Inactive parties

The following parties were formally active in the fourth republic but are no more registered with the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

Name			Abbr.	Founded	Leader	Political position	Ideology	Last election	Comments
		Ghana Redevelopment Party	GRP
		Independent People's Party	IPP	2011	Kofi Akpaloo				Dissolved in 2017
		National Convention Party	NCP	1992	Kow Nkensen Arkaah		Nkrumaism	1996	Merged with PCP to reform CPP in 1996[13]
		National Independence Party	NIP	1992	Kwabena Darko		Nkrumaism	1992 Presidential only	Boycotted 1992 parliamentary election. Merged with PHP in 1993, forming PCP
		People's Convention Party	PCP	1993	Festus Busia		Nkrumaism		Merged with NCP to reform CPP in 1996
		People's Heritage Party	PHP	1992	Emmanuel Erskine		Nkrumaism	1992 Presidential only	Boycotted 1992 parliamentary election. Merged with NIP in 1993, forming PCP
		United Love Party	ULP	2008	Ramon Osei Akoto			Could not contest 2008 or 2012 elections	Split from NDC

Third Republic (1979-1981)

During the Third Republic, the following list of parties contested the 1979 general election. The All People's Party was a merger of the opposition parties in parliament formed later. All parties in the Third Republic were banned following the military coup d'etat on 31 December 1981. There would be continuous military rule until after the 1992 general election.

Name			Abbr.	Founded	Leader	Political position	Ideology	MPs	Last election	Comments
		Action Congress Party	ACP	1979	Frank Bernasko			10	1979
		All People's Party	APP	1979	Victor Owusu				1979	Merger of the parties in opposition- PFP, UNC, SDF and TFP
		People's National Party	PNP	1979	Hilla Limann		Nkrumah tradition	71	1979	Offshoot of CPP / NAL
		Popular Front Party	PFP	1979	Victor Owusu		Danquah/Busia tradition	42	1979	offshoot of Progress Party
		Social Democratic Front	SDF	1979	Ibrahim Mahama			3	1979
		Third Force Party	TFP	1979	John Bilson			0	1979
		United National Convention	UNC	1979	William Ofori Atta			13	1979

Second Republic (1969-1972)

The Second Republic spanned the period from October 1969 to 13 January 1972. This was the period when the Progress Party came to power with Kofi Busia as Prime Minister and Akufo-Addo as ceremonial President. It ended with the military coup d'état which brought the National Redemption Council military government into power. All political parties were banned.

Name			Abbr.	Founded	Leader	Political position	Ideology	MPs	Last election	Comments
		All People's Republican Party	APRP	1969	P. K. K. Quaidoo			1	1969
		Justice Party	JP	1970	E. R. T. Madjitey				—	merger of NAL, PAP and UNP
		National Alliance of Liberals	NAL	1969	K. A. Gbedemah			29	1969	offshoot of CPP as CPP was banned
		People's Action Party	PAP	1969	Imoru Ayarna			2	1969	merged with NAL and UNP to form Justice Party
		Progress Party	PP	1969	K. A. Busia			105	1969	offshoot of United Party
		United Nationalist Party	UP	1969	H. S. Bannerman			2	1969	merged with NAL and PAP to form Justice Party

Independent State within the Commonwealth (1957-1960)/First Republic (1960-1966)

Name			Abbr.	Founded	Leader	Political position	Ideology	MPs	Last election	Comments
		Convention People's Party	CPP	1949	Kwame Nkrumah			198	1965	Nkrumah tradition
		Federation of Youth Organization	FYO		Modesto Apaloo			1	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		Ga Shifimo Kpee	GSK	1957				0	—	Merged into United Party in 1957
		Muslim Association Party	MAP	1954	Cobina Kessie			1	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		National Liberation Movement	NLM	1954	Baffour Osei Akoto			12	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		Northern People's Party	NPP	1954	S.D. Dombo			15	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		Togoland Congress	TC	1951	S. G. Antor			2	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		United Party	UP	1957	K. A. Busia				—	Merger of all opposition parties in parliament

Pre-Independence

Ghanaian natives were allowed to stand for elections into the Legislative Assembly. There were elections held in 1951, 1954 and 1956 prior to the United Kingdom granting Ghana independence.

Name			Abbr.	Founded	Leader	Political position	Ideology	MPs	Last election	Comments
		Anlo Youth Organisation	AYO	1952	Modesto Apaloo			1	1954
		Convention People's Party	CPP	1949	Kwame Nkrumah			71	1956	Nkrumah tradition, split from UGCC
		Federation of Youth Organization	FYO		Modesto Apaloo			1	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		Ghana Congress Party	GCP	1952	K. A. Busia			1	1954	Merged into NLM
		Muslim Association Party	MAP	1954	Cobina Kessie			1	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		National Democratic Party	NDP	1950	Nii Amaa Ollennu		right wing	0	1951	merged with UGCC in 1952 to form the GCP
		National Liberation Movement	NLM	1954	Baffour Osei Akoto			12	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		Northern People's Party	NPP	1954	S. D. Dombo			15	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		Togoland Congress	TC	1951	S. G. Antor			2	1956	Merged into United Party in 1957
		United Gold Coast Convention	UGCC	1947	Paa Grant				1951	merged with NDP in 1952 to form GCP

See also

• Electoral Commission of Ghana
• Lists of political parties
• List of political parties in Western Africa by country
• List of political parties by United Nations geoscheme

References

1. "Opposition parties initiate 'Yenpene' demo against new voters' register". Graphic Online. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
2. "Political Parties Act". Electoral Commission of Ghana Online. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
3. "Home - Electoral Commission". ec.gov.gh. Electoral Commission of Ghana. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
4. "Political Parties". Accra: Electoral Commission of Ghana Online. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
5. "Active political parties, independent candidates that will likely contest 2020 elections". GhanaWeb. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
6. "Political Parties". Electoral Commission of Ghana. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
7. "Profile of Registered Political Parties in Ghana". Electoral Commission of Ghana. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
8. "Ghana: Political Parties registered for 2012 elections". African Democracy Encyclopaedia Project. Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
9. "2024 Elections: Akua Donkor and two others file nomination". ghanaweb.com. 12 September 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
10. "DFP merges with NDC". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
11. Hamdia Mohammed (16 September 2024). "Election 2024: Meet the 24 Presidential candidates". www.citinewsroom.com. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
12. "Watch how Kofi Akpaloo was cheered on after he filed his presidential nomination forms". ghanaweb.com. 9 September 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
13. "ARKAAH SAYS HE CAN WORK WITH RAWLINGS DESPITE". ghanaweb.com. 1 February 1996. Retrieved 10 June 2024.

External links

• National Electoral Commission - Registered Political Parties
• Political Parties: A Cross-National Survey
• Political Parties and Political Participation in Ghana
• African Democracy Encyclopaedia Project - Ghana: Political Parties registered for 2012 elections
• Political parties in Ghana, their emblems and colours