NDC Must Not Become NPP, Opare Addo Warns Against Confrontational Politics

National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare Addo, has urged members of the party to avoid adopting what he describes as an aggressive and confrontational style of politics associated with political competition.

His comments follow the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) election of new national executives at its National Delegates Conference held in Kumasi on October 3, 2026.

John Boadu was elected National Chairman, while Justin Kodua retained his position as General Secretary. Daniel Titus Glover was elected National Organiser and Abanga Fuseini Yakubu became National Youth Organiser.

Former NPP-affiliated Delta Forces member Kwadwo Fosu Boadu, popularly known as Kojo Bamba, was also elected National First Vice Chairman.

In a statement that was made on Sunday, October 4, Mr Opare Addo urged the NDC to chart its own political course as the party prepares for its national executive elections.

“The NDC must not answer the NPP by becoming the NPP,” he said.

He called on the party to compete through ideas, organisation, policy and intellectual strength rather than intimidation or violence.

“We must compete with ideas. We must compete with organisation. We must compete with policy. We must compete with intellectual strength,” he said.

Mr Opare Addo also cautioned against allowing political competition to degenerate into violence, drawing a distinction between political toughness and political violence.

“There is a difference between being politically tough and being politically violent. There is a difference between mobilisation and intimidation. There is a difference between political competition and political warfare.

“And Ghana must never cross that line,” he said.

According to him, the NDC’s upcoming leadership contest presents an opportunity for the party to determine not only who will occupy its national executive positions but also the type of politics it wants to promote.

He urged delegates to consider “what kind of NDC do we want to build, and what kind of politics do we want Ghana to experience?”

Mr Opare Addo said the party’s 2022 leadership election represented a political reset that helped broaden its appeal. He also cited the youth wing’s mobilisation through the Green Army as an example of how young people could be organised around political purpose and consciousness.

However, he warned the NDC against returning to what he described as “personality, insults, factionalism and permanent confrontation.”

“The answer to aggressive politics cannot be greater aggression. The answer to political intimidation cannot be political intimidation of our own. The answer to violence must be a stronger commitment to democratic mobilisation,” he said.

Mr Opare Addo urged the NDC to remain “fierce in competition but responsible in power”, stressing that political victory should not be regarded as the ultimate objective.

“Building a better Ghana is,” he said.