Politics

UP Plus risks becoming another personality project – IMANI warns

Policy think tank IMANI-Africa has raised questions about the long-term viability of Alan Kyerematen’s newly launched United Party Plus (UP Plus), describing it as another ambitious but uncertain bid to disrupt Ghana’s two-party dominance.

According to IMANI’s latest brief, the rebranded movement, evolved from Kyerematen’s Movement for Change, faces the same structural hurdles that have historically doomed similar third-force attempts under the Fourth Republic.

Since the return to democratic rule in 1992, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) have consistently secured over 90 percent of total votes, leaving little room for smaller political entrants.

IMANI noted that while UP Plus has managed to sustain visibility since the 2024 elections, visibility alone is insufficient without grassroots infrastructure.

“Without durable local structures across Ghana’s more than 40,000 polling stations, UP Plus risks becoming another personality-driven project,” the brief warned.

The organization added that Ghana’s constitutional framework further limits smaller parties’ chances, particularly because the President must appoint a majority of ministers from Parliament.

“Parties that fail to secure parliamentary seats cannot meaningfully participate in governance,” IMANI observed, citing the repeated failures of the PPP and GUM as cautionary examples.

To gain real traction, IMANI suggested that UP Plus must focus on winnable constituencies, avoid co-optation by larger parties, and sustain activity between elections.

Anything less, it said, would make the movement yet another footnote in Ghana’s long list of short-lived third forces.

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