Lawyer and businessman Francis Ayenu has welcomed the New Patriotic Party’s decision to suspend premature parliamentary campaigning, while calling for special consideration for constituencies without incumbent NPP MPs.
The directive, issued by General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong on 11 October 2026, requires prospective parliamentary aspirants to stop all campaign activity ahead of the party’s parliamentary selection processes.
Mr Ayenu, popularly known as Rob, is an East Legon-based lawyer and businessman with substantial commercial interests in Ayawaso West Wuogon. He praised Mr Frimpong and the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), saying the order should help protect discipline, fairness and unity within the NPP.
He believes the complaints behind the directive may have largely come from constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament, whose records and established positions could make early campaigning particularly contentious.
However, he said constituencies without incumbent NPP MPs – often described as orphan constituencies – faced different challenges. In such areas, he argued, legitimate party-building work should not be stopped, especially where the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has sitting MPs and remains active among voters.
“In my estimation, this is a fantastic directive, and we are grateful to the General Secretary and, by extension, the NEC for taking this important step,” Mr Ayenu said.
“I believe our sitting MPs have done a great job, and many of the complaints that informed this decision may well have come from constituencies where we have incumbent MPs.
“However, I respectfully believe that the peculiar circumstances of orphan constituencies may merit further consideration. In Ayawaso West Wuogon, for instance, when the University of Ghana reopens, it is only proper that we usher in the new academic year with activities that strengthen our party’s presence, engage students and reconnect with the wider constituency.
“If the directive is applied in a way that brings all such activities to a halt, we risk leaving the responsibility entirely to TESCON and the regional party, even when willing party members are available to contribute.”
The directive prohibits rallies, promotional materials, inducements and paid media advertising, and warns that violations could lead to disciplinary sanctions. It also prevents party officers and TESCON executives from promoting aspirants on social media or helping them organise premature campaigns.
Mr Ayenu stressed that his comments were not intended to challenge the authority of the party leadership.
“This is not to question the directive or the authority of the party. On the contrary, I commend the leadership for acting in the interest of discipline and fairness,” he said.
“My appeal is simply that, as we uphold the directive, we also consider how best to sustain legitimate party engagement in constituencies where we have no sitting MP, particularly when our political opponents remain active.
“We must protect the integrity of our internal processes while ensuring that our party does not lose ground in the constituencies we hope to win.”
The NPP has completed its internal elections from polling station level through to the national executive level, leaving the parliamentary primaries as its main internal challenge before the 2028 general elections.
Mr Ayenu’s intervention therefore highlights the balance the party must strike between controlling early campaigning and keeping constituencies without incumbent MPs politically active and competitive.
