The party is the youth: Interview John Boadu

"Our party literally has the youth at heart"  John Boadu, youth organiser for the NPP, tells me. This is because, he explains, "60% of our members are under thirty-five". While quickly pointing out that the NPP is a conservative party, upholding the concept of seniority as espoused in the African tradition, he recognizes the fact that young people play a critical role in shaping and sustaining party politics.

The NPPs structure grants youth equal opportunities to contest for political posts, not only in the youth assembly but for meaningful roles within the party. Thus about 30 % of key organs of the party are occupied by youth.

And the youth wing is currently making efforts to come up with ways of ensuring that more youth take up posts in the key organs of the party says Mr Boadu. Right now they are lobbying the party to co-opt the youth-held post of the deputy national organizer onto the national executive. Structurally, the party starts at polling station (local) level and carries on up to conference stage (at a national level) with the youth represented at every point. It is however clear that the elderly politicians, who are above 35 years of age occupy most of the key positions in the party. Boadu said their party also recognized that while the presence of youths in key positions is important, the senior politicians are also keen on advancing the interests of the youth and representing their politics and aspirations.

The party, Boadu tells me is also actively involved in organizing students in tertiary institutions to intensify peer political mobilization and participation, and, contributing at the same time to an up-grading of the quality of political education in Ghana. He said that the NPP was serious about getting back into office and for that to happen successfully, young people must be able to find a sense of proactive belonging within the party.

While they were in power up to the last elections, Boadu reminds me that the NPP was committed to broadening opportunities for youth through its national employment strategy which involved a wide spectrum of youth in national development issues and policy formulation. During its time in office the NPP government also supported the adoption and implementation of a national youth policy which aimed to recognise and stimulate the unique contribution young people can offer to democracy. And now, says Boadu its important that agenda be continued. He recommends that communities come up with their own programmes for youth engagement, based on their own community conditions and needs. Mr Boadu noted that although his party had initiated the process to adopt a youth policy before it was thrown out of office, government can still deliver even without an explicit policy: if it is genuinely committed to addressing the challenges faced by young people. He noted that the major problem with the Youth council is that political parties are not represented on it and therefore their views cannot be embraced.

Boadu also recognises some of the broader challenges facing the NPP. The party is active with programmes and offices across the country yet it is constrained by lack of resources which all too often leads to a lack of engagement between election periods. It seems clear from my talk with him that decision making is still top-down within the NPP and this is replicated within the youth wing as much as anywhere. What it means is that the key decisions are still made by the key elites, mostly in the capital and brought down to the people with minimal consultation. And yet, for all these constraints, there are signs of a broadening inclusivity within the NPP - led perhaps by the teachings of its youthful heart.