Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, a long-standing member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), resigned from the party on Monday, September 25, 2023.
Mr Kyeremanten, who previously resigned from the party’s flagbearer race, also declared his intention to run as an independent presidential candidate in the 2024 general election.
He cited electoral irregularities, unfair treatment, and bias during the NPP super delegates’ conference as factors behind his decision.
His move has sparked a nationwide debate about Ghana’s political duopoly and the possibility of a third force changing that.
While some political analysts and Ghanaians have welcomed his independence as a needed deviation from the regular NPP and NDC rhetoric, others have described it as a mistake.
These critics have compared Mr. Kyeremanten’s departure from the NPP to other political defectors who have failed to establish a formidable third force.
Here, The Ghana Report takes a look at other stalwart politicians who broke away from their parties to contest independently or formed their own political parties.
- Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings
In 2012, when she left the National Democracy Congress (NDC), a party her husband founded, the former First Lady of Ghana and widow of former President Jerry John Rawlings became the first woman to run for Ghana’s presidency in 2016.
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings stated then that the conviction with which she joined the NDC has faded, and while her husband may have extended the hand of invitation with good intentions, her return to the party should not be anticipated.
She ran against the late President John Evans Atta Mills in the NDC’s presidential primaries in 2008, but lost, which some believe influenced her decision to found her own party, the National Democratic Party (NDP), in 2012.
She however failed to contest the ticket of the NDP in the 2012 elections after the Electoral Commission (EC) disqualified her as a Presidential candidate.
The NDP flagbearer pulled only 0.16% of the votes cast in the 2016 elections.
- Augustus “Goosie” Tanoh
Tanoh was a founding member of the National Democratic Congress party (NDC). He, however, broke away from the party in 1999 citing issues of corruption and disorganization.
He went on to found the National Reform Party (NRP) and ran for president in 2000 on the party’s ticket and lost.
Mr Tanoh returned to NDC with his colleagues from NRP at his behest in 2007/2008.
Meanwhile, in 2018, Mr Tanoh joined the NDC presidential race ahead of the 2020 elections.
He joined other high-profile candidates within the NDC including the former president, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, Sylvester Mensah, Alban Bagbin, Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah, Prof. Joshua Alabi, and Kweku Ricketts-Hagan.
- Obed Asamoah
The once Chairman of NDC, who had served in various ministerial positions in the party’s government, resigned from the party in 2006 after he lost the chairmanship in his second bid.
This came after he fell out with some leaders of the party. He stated that his continuous stay in the party at the time was at a risk to his life.
In August of the same year, Mr. Asamoah and other political defectors, the majority of whom had also resigned from the NDC, launched a new political party, the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), in which he was the life patron.
However, he and his DFP members re-joined the NDC in October 2011.
- Paa Kwesi Nduom
The former presidential candidate for the Convention People’s Party(CPP) quit the party in 2011 after a squabble with some leading members of the party.
In January 2012, the businessman formed his own party, the Progressive People’s Party(PPP).
He contested on PPP’s ticket in the 2012 and 2016 elections but lost both times.
- Hassan Ayariga
The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Hassan Ayariga, broke away from the party in 2015 after he lost the bid to Dr. Edward Mahama.
He cited unfair treatment ahead of the PNC’s 2015 congress that saw his defeat.
Mr Ayariga’s decision came as a surprise to many since there had not been any known disagreement between him and the party.
He formed the All People’s Congress (APC) in 2016 and contested for Ghana’s presidency in the same year.
The EC, however, disqualified him over his inability to meet requirements set for presidential aspirants.
Mr Ayariga also contested in the 2020 elections and polled 0.05% of the total votes cast.
- Charles Wereko-Brobby
The founding member of the NPP, Wereko-Brobby, also known as Tarzan formed the United Ghana Movement (UGM) in 1996 after he left the NPP following some internal party disagreement.
Like other political defectors, he returned to the fold of the NPP after he contested for president in the name of UGM and polled only 0.3% of the votes.
In 2013, the NPP suspended Dr Wereko-Brobby, from the party after it had absorbed months of spiralling criticisms from him.