Solidaire Governance Forum: Ghana’s democracy is trapped in an NDC–NPP duopoly – Professor Kwaku Asare

Renowned legal scholar and civil activist, Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, says Ghana’s multiparty democracy has narrowed into an NDC–NPP duopoly, limiting political competition and public confidence in political parties.

He made the remarks during a Solidare Ghana Public Forum lecture on “Political Parties: The Original Vision and Current Reality.”

Professor Asare acknowledged that Ghana’s Fourth Republic has recorded important democratic gains, particularly the peaceful transfer of political power through elections, but argued that the country’s political landscape has become increasingly dominated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“Multiparty democracy was supposed to give us choice. Real choice. Competition of ideas. Alternative visions for national development. But in practice, our multiparty democracy has narrowed into an NDC–NPP duopoly,” he said.

He noted that although smaller political parties continue to participate in elections, they are rarely viewed as credible alternatives by voters.

“Smaller parties exist. But let us be honest: they are tolerated more than they are taken seriously,” Professor Asare stated.

According to him, the dominance of the two major parties has reduced elections to recurring contests between familiar rivals rather than genuine competitions based on fresh ideas and policies.

“For many voters, elections no longer feel like contests of ideas. They feel like choices between the lesser of two evils. We keep changing drivers—but never fixing the vehicle.”

Professor Asare said Ghana’s success in achieving peaceful transfers of power should not obscure deeper structural challenges confronting its democracy.

“Whatever our frustrations today, political parties have accomplished one thing that previous constitutional orders struggled to achieve: the peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. No coups. No suspension of the Constitution. No soldiers deciding who governs.”

He, however, warned that public trust in political parties has steadily eroded.

“Afrobarometer surveys consistently show that fewer than one in five Ghanaians trust political parties. Think about that. In a constitutional democracy built around political parties, fewer than twenty percent of citizens trust the very institutions meant to represent them.”

Professor Asare called for reforms to strengthen political competition, improve internal party democracy, and ensure political parties focus on ideas, accountability and national development rather than preserving a rigid two-party dominance.