While Ghana is considered a polarised nations, many of the personalities in the political space may not have always been on the side of the divide they currently are from the very onset.
And for various reasons, for instance, some political watchers were perplexed by the move by NPP stalwart, Alan Kyerematen, in 2023, with the support of others like Hopeson Adorye, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, and others, to defect.
Yet, that trend did not start with them, and it surely may not be stopping there.
Speaking in a recent interview on Metro TV on April 14, 2025, popular NPP member, Prof Amoako Baah, declared his intention to break away from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) with some other members.
He disclosed that with those members, they hope to constitute a new party called the New Patriotic Front (NPF).
The political lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) cited incompetence and selfishness as the cause of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) abysmal performance in the 2024 Election.
With this latest development, it begs the question about the endless list of politicians who have broken away from parties to either form new political movements, or to join other opposition parties.
Worth noting, some of these people too eventually returned to where it all started for them.
It is on the back this recent development that GhanaWeb has compiled a list of politicians who made the news with unexpected moves from their political parties in recent years.
Below are some of these politicians who defected to other political parties:
Alan Kyerematen
The most recent account of major political breakaways occurred on September 25, 2023, when Alan Kyerematen, then flagbearer candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 2024 Election, declared his intentions to run as an independent candidate.
This move marked the second time he left the NPP.
In 2008, the popular politician resigned from the NPP after losing the flagbearer race to former President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo.
He, however, rejoined the NPP after a meeting with the leadership of the party a few months after his resignation.
He bounced back strongly under the campaign name ‘Alan Cash,’ but, unfortunately, when he made the attempt again in 2023, he came in third in the first round of polls to select the final five people to contest the New Patriotic Primary to elect a flagbearer.
Alan Kyerematen was a pivotal member of the NPP, serving in various capacities including the Minister of Trade and Industry, before he resigned from the role on September 25, 2023.
Following his exit from the party in 2023, he run as an independent candidate under the Movement for Change, a political group he founded himself, in the 2024 Election.
Charles Wereko Brobbey
Charles Wereko Brobbey, otherwise known as ‘Tarzan,’ was a founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He, however, resigned after losing out on the flagbearer position to John Agyekum Kufuor in 1996.
He went on to form the United Ghana Movement (UGM), and ran for president in 1996, but was unsuccessful.
He later returned to the NPP in 2012, but was later suspended from the party for being too critical.
Hassan Ayariga
Hassan Ayariga was elected the flagbearer of the People’s National Convention (PNC) in 2012.
In 2016, he lost out as the presidential candidate and subsequently left the PNC to form his own party called the All People’s Congress (APC).
Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom
Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, a staunch member of the Convention People Party (CPP), became its flagbearer during the 2008 Election.
He too later resigned from the CPP and formed a new political party – the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), which he led to the 2012 polls.
Papa Kwesi Nduom contested again in 2016 on the ticket of his party but was unsuccessful.
Augustus Goosie Oboadum Tanoh
Augustus Goosie Tanoh left the National Democratic Congress (NDC) after losing his bid to become the party’s flagbearer in the 1996 Election.
Though Goosie Tanoh became a presidential candidate of the National Reform Party (NRP), a break away party from the NDC in the 2000 Election, it did not win him the election.
He rejoined the National Democratic Congress (NDC) under the late John Evans Atta Mills in 2007 and contested the presidential primary of the party in 2018, but again lost.
Dr Obed Asamoah
Dr Obed Asamoah was a key player in the founding of the NDC.
He was accused of some impropriety which led to his resignation from the party in 2006.
He consequently formed a new political party called the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) but rejoined the NDC in 2018.
Bede Anwataazumo Ziedeng
Bede Ziedeng is one of the notable politicians who left the NDC to join the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) founded by Dr Obed Asamoah in 2006.
In 2008, Bede Ziedeng contested the Lawra-Nandom parliamentary election on the ticket of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP), but lost to Ambrose Dery of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He served as the General Secretary of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) in 2006.
He later contested in the 2016 parliamentary election and lost again.
Bede Ziedeng returned to the NDC and contested in 2020 and won his parliamentary seat to become the MP for Lawra Constituency and has since held the position.
Former Vice President Ekow Nkensen Arkaah
Late former Vice President Ekow Nkensen Arkaah, originally from the National Convention Party (NCP), formed an alliance with the NDC in 1992.
Arkaah, who was then the presidential candidate of the NCP, became the vice president under Jerry John Rawlings in 1993.
He, however, left the NDC after some misunderstanding.
Ahead of the 1996 general elections, his former party NCP was renamed the People’s Convention Party (PCP).
He subsequently joined the New Patriotic Party (NPP), becoming the running mate to John Agyekum Kufuor.
Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings
Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, former First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, founded the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings was very instrumental in her leadership of the 31st December Women’s Movement group; a women empowerment wing of the NDC.
She contested the then president, the late John Evans Atta Mills, in 2011 for the flagbearer position but lost.
She then left the party to form the NDP in 2012.
She contested on the ticket of the NDP in the 2016 and 2020 elections, but was unsuccessful in either of them.
Frederick Worsemao Armah Blay
The former National Chairman of the NPP, Freddie Blay, switched camps from the Convention People’s Party (CPP) to join the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Freddie Blay was the Member of Parliament for Ellembelle constituency in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th parliaments of the 4th republic of Ghana, on the ticket of the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP).
He lost his seat in the general elections held on December 7, 2008, to Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah.
He resigned from the CPP to join the New Patriotic Party (NPP) after being criticised by some CPP stalwarts for not campaigning for the then flagbearer, Paa Kwesi Nduom, but instead endorsed Nana Akufo-Addo, who was then the NPP presidential candidate.
Freddie Blay stood for the post of Vice Chairman of the NPP after his defection from the CPP in April 2014.
After the party expelled its National Chairman, Paul Afoko, the NPP engaged him in the interim as the acting chairman of the party.
Freddie Blay was later elected as the substantive chairman of the party at a national conference at Koforidua in July 2018.
Freddie Blay held this position of NPP National Chairman until he was succeeded by Stephen Ntim in 2022.
VPO/AE
Meanwhile, catch up on the concluding part of the story of Fort William, where children were sold in exchange for kitchenware, others, below: