Sekondi Constituency Youth Organiser, Mensah Kweku Emmanuel, has declared his intention to contest for the position of Deputy Western Regional Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Emmanuel says his ambition is driven by the need to consolidate the party’s electoral gains in the Western Region and build a stronger, more organised youth base ahead of the 2028 general elections.
According to him in an interview, the NDC’s breakthrough in Sekondi in the 2024 parliamentary election after more than three decades provides an important lesson for the party’s future electoral strategy.
“The NDC must consolidate what it has won, strengthen what remains vulnerable and build an even more formidable youth movement ahead of the 2028 general elections. And I believe my experience in Sekondi provides a compelling case for that assignment,” he said.
The NDC had not won the Sekondi parliamentary seat since 1992, with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) taking control in 1996 and retaining the constituency through successive elections.
In the 2020 parliamentary election, the NPP’s Andrew Egyapa Mercer secured 17,259 votes, representing 61.56 per cent, while the NDC’s Charles Hagan polled 10,310 votes.
The political fortunes of the two parties changed in 2024, when the NDC’s Blay Nyameke Armah won the seat with 14,558 votes, defeating Mercer, who polled 11,084 votes.
Emmanuel says his role as Constituency Youth Organiser formed part of the grassroots structure behind the NDC’s return to the constituency.
“As the constituency’s Youth Organiser, I was an integral part of the grassroots structure that helped the party mobilise its youth base and deliver what had long appeared to be an elusive victory. So, for me, the question now is not simply how to win Sekondi once, but how to turn the Sekondi experience into a template for sustained NDC electoral success across the region.”
Emmanuel is positioning his grassroots political experience and public-sector leadership as key strengths in his bid.
In October 2025, he was appointed Acting Western Regional Director of the National Service Authority, where he is responsible for coordinating and supervising national service operations in the region.
He says the combination of grassroots political mobilisation and administrative experience gives him an understanding of both party organisation and the concerns of young people.
He has built his campaign around three themes: experience, commitment and organisation.
“The Sekondi victory gives me a tangible electoral story to tell. A constituency that the NDC had failed to reclaim for more than three decades was finally brought back into the party’s column. This gives me an understanding of what it takes to organise young people, maintain party structures and convert political enthusiasm into votes.”
He also believes the youth wing must remain active beyond election periods by engaging young people and addressing their concerns.
“My appointment to head the Western Regional Directorate of the National Service Authority has also placed me in an administrative environment where youth development and national service intersect, experience that strengthens my understanding of the aspirations and challenges confronting young Ghanaians.”
Emmanuel argues that the NDC’s strong performance in the Western Region in 2024 must now be protected through sustained grassroots organisation.
“The NDC enters the 2028 cycle with a substantial electoral base to protect and expand. In the 2024 parliamentary election, the party won 15 of the 17 parliamentary seats in the Western Region, with Sekondi among the constituencies it reclaimed. The challenge now is consolidation. Winning seats creates political opportunity; keeping them requires organisation.”
He says a strong regional youth structure must focus on maintaining constituency networks, improving communication with young voters and ensuring that youth structures remain active between elections.
Emmanuel insists his bid is not merely a Sekondi project but an attempt to replicate what he believes worked in the constituency across the region.
“Rather, I am presenting Sekondi as evidence of what determined grassroots organisation can achieve.”
He said the party must move beyond celebrating its 2024 gains and focus on institutionalising the structures that contributed to the victories.
“The NDC’s 2024 parliamentary performance represented a dramatic reversal from 2020. In 2020, the party won only a minority of Western Region’s 17 parliamentary constituencies, while the NPP held several constituencies that subsequently moved into the NDC column in 2024.
“My proposition, therefore, is less about celebrating yesterday’s victory and more about institutionalising the machinery that produced it.”
He added that the youth wing must develop structures capable of identifying and engaging young voters while preparing the next generation of party leaders.
“So, for the youth wing, this means a structure capable of identifying young voters, nurturing new party activists, supporting constituency organisers and creating a pipeline of young leaders who can take responsibility at every level of the party.”
