Afenyo-Markin Takes NPP’s Political Philosophy to UCC Students

Minority Leader of Parliament and Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has traced the historical evolution of Ghana’s Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition before more than 1,000 students and faculty at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), describing the tradition as Ghana’s centre-right ideological foundation built on liberal democracy, constitutionalism, individual liberty, decentralisation, and market-oriented economic organisation.

The lecture was delivered on Saturday, February 21, 2026, at the School of Graduate Studies Conference Hall during the Young Commons Forum (YCF) UCC Summit, a youth governance and leadership initiative Afenyo-Markin inaugurated in September 2025 and has since expanded to multiple universities.

Afenyo-Markin highlighted the contributions of Dr. J.B. Danquah, Professor Kofi Abrefa Busia, and Chief Simon Diedong Dombo, tracing how the movement shaped opposition politics from the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) era to the formation of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 1992. He noted that the tradition survived military rule and political repression across multiple decades while remaining committed to property-owning democracy, human capital development, and private sector-led growth.

Turning to policy, Afenyo-Markin held up the administrations of former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo as practical expressions of the tradition in government. He cited the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme, Free Senior High School (SHS), and Free Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as strategic investments in human capital rather than welfare populism, arguing they were designed to enable citizens to participate fully in economic life.

He described programmes such as the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative and the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) policy as consistent with the tradition’s emphasis on industrialisation, agricultural productivity, and job creation through private sector engagement.

Afenyo-Markin urged the party to recommit to its founding values, warning that the NPP had not lost its way because of failed policies but because of abandoned principles. “Busia believed in service before self. Danquah championed dignity through opportunity. Dombo sacrificed his leadership rights and fought for performance over promises,” he said, arguing that rebuilding trust with Ghanaians must begin with a return to those values.

He encouraged students to study the intellectual and political foundations of Ghana’s traditions as a way of enriching democratic governance and civic participation.