Newly elected National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, has argued that becoming party chairman should not automatically make the person the leader of the party.
According to him, all elected party executives are servants entrusted with the responsibility of working for the NPP and delivering on their respective mandates.
His comments come after the NPP amended its constitution to make the party’s presidential candidate the leader of the party.
Speaking in an interview , Mr Boadu said the identity of the person in charge should not be the main concern, as every elected executive has specific responsibilities to fulfil.
“Who is in charge doesn’t really matter. We’re all servants who have been elected to come and serve,” he said.
Mr Boadu said the NPP’s previous constitutional arrangement had served the party well since 1992 and questioned the need to change its leadership structure.
“Our constitution that we have been working with has served us well since 1992, and I made it clear at Legon. But I didn’t have the strength or what it takes to mobilise,” he said.
He also cited the principle often associated with the United States that systems should not be changed when they are working effectively.
“Americans always say that if a system is not broken, we don’t fix it. So that thing about making the chairman a leader just because of one person, I felt it was unnecessary, and we shouldn’t have gone there,” he said.
Mr Boadu maintained that the performance of a national chairman should be measured by how effectively the person carries out the responsibilities of the office, rather than whether the chairman is formally recognised as the party’s leader.
“I said that a good chairman doesn’t need to be a leader of the party, and a bad chairman doesn’t deserve to be a leader of the party,” he said.
He added that whether the NPP is in opposition or government, his priority would remain fulfilling the mandate given to him by the party.
“So whether in opposition or power, my focus is on the job I have been given,” he said.
Mr Boadu further suggested that the NPP could have avoided the current debate over its leadership structure by maintaining its existing arrangements.
“If they had listened to me, we wouldn’t have been here, because the existing party structures were there, and if we’re back to do this, it shouldn’t be a problem at all,” he said in an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem.
