In a healthy democracy, the opposition is the conscience of governance. Its role is not to obstruct governance for the sake of visibility, nor to undermine every policy proposal out of partisan bitterness. Its role is to stand as a credible and patriotic alternative capable of leading the nation with a vision rooted in principle and public service. When this role is appropriately executed, democracy thrives and citizens benefit. But when opposition parties abandon this responsibility and degenerate into vehicles of unthinking negation, the people suffer. Ghana, like too many other African states, is contending with precisely this problem. When Losing Means Wrecking The post-election conduct of Ghana's New Patriotic Party (NPP) provides a textbook example. Since its defeat in the December 2024 general elections, the NPP has not offered a serious programme of reform, a rethink of its political culture, or a forward-looking agenda to re-earn the people's trust. Instead, it has chosen the path of refusal, disruption, and bitterness. It has refused to accept the public verdict, rejected facts that challenge its internal narrative, and opposed for the sheer sake of it. This is not a principled stand; it is a calculated dereliction of democratic duty. Consider the statement made by Eugene Boakye Antwi, a former NPP Member of Parliament for Subin, who openly stated on national television that it is his wish for the Mahama government to fail, so that the NPP may return to power in 2028. This was not a slip of the tongue. Or a moment of personal frustration. It was an honest expression of a deeper logic within opposition politics across the continent: that the misfortune of the people is a welcome price to pay if it facilitates a party's return to power. In another TV interview, NPP spokesperson Dennis Miracles Aboagye rendered a forced dismissal of the findings of a scientific survey conducted by Global InfoAnalytics, led by the respected pollster Musa Dankwah, simply because the results painted the incumbent government in a favourable light. This is the same Dankwah who, to the irritation of the then NPP government, accurately predicted their electoral defeat in December 2024. These examples point to a structural failure in how opposition is imagined and practiced—as a platform for permanent antagonism and strategic sabotage. When the facts don't favour the party line, they are rejected. When the government makes progress, it is either ignored or distorted. When citizens express support for the administration, their voices are dismissed as manipulated or misguided. Governing Differently — Imperfect, But Listening Yet the record of the Mahama-led administration so far has been one of deliberate corrective action. No government is perfect, and this one has its flaws too, some of which are beginning to show. But it has, without doubt, demonstrated a level of seriousness, public engagement, and fiscal discipline that is rare in Ghana's recent political history. With an approval rating of close to 70%, according to credible surveys, the government enjoys a level of political goodwill that reflects both public satisfaction and a desire for a different kind of politics. That this support has been earned during a period of economic fragility is even more telling. The results are tangible. The Ghana cedi has stabilised significantly and, at one point, emerged as the world's best-performing currency, from being the worst in 2022. Fuel prices have been reduced. Inflation has fallen significantly, from over 23% in January 2025 to 13.7% in June. Ghana is projected to hit single-digit inflation by the end of 2025. Several unpopular and economically punitive taxes have been abolished. In an act of symbolic and practical austerity, the government suspended free fuel vouchers for political appointees—a decision unthinkable in previous administrations. The number of ministers has been slashed from over a hundred under the former NPP government to fewer than sixty today. Even more impressively, the government decided to spend only 5% of the usual expenditure on Ghana's Independence Day celebrations in March 2025, amounting to just GH¢1 million, instead of the estimated GH¢20 million. In doing so, it sent a clear message to Ghanaians that governance is not about pomp. It is about prudence. Food inflation has dropped to 11.7 percentage points, according to Ghana's Minister of Finance. Basic goods and essentials are more affordable. Investor confidence is rising. The economic outlook, while still fragile, is no longer bleak. In the background, state institutions have also begun uncovering serious financial misconduct allegedly committed under the previous government. A former finance minister is now wanted for questioning over actions that may have caused significant financial loss to the state. The tone and posture of the new administration are notably different from the arrogance and tone-deafness that characterised the final years of the previous administration. Despite all the above and more, the opposition leader in Parliament insists that the NDC government is a failure and Ghana deserves better. This is only seven months into the new administration, following the takeover of power from the NPP, which had been in power between 2017 and 2025 and overseen what can easily be considered Ghana's worst economy since 1992. Rather than learning from its mistakes or responding to the electorate's clear message, the NPP appears determined to destroy where it cannot dominate, to discredit what it cannot control. It is a politics of bitterness masquerading as scrutiny. In this, Ghana is not alone. Many countries across Africa offer even more egregious examples—where opposition actors routinely oscillate between denialism, deliberate destabilisation, and calculated opportunism, convinced that national dysfunction is the surest path back to political power. The Opposition Trap: Party Over People Such politics does not advance democracy. It corrodes it. When opposition becomes a performance of hostility, and when "No!" becomes the organising principle of a political party, the institutions of governance suffer. Democracy becomes reduced to a noisy exchange between competing elites, rather than a serious conversation about national development. The public, caught between partisanship and polarisation, loses faith in the system altogether. This cyclical antagonism, unfortunately, has become baked into the DNA of Ghana's party politics. In truth, if the tables were turned, the NDC would likely have behaved no differently. This is not because either party lacks capable individuals or the ability to govern responsibly, but because both are trapped in a political culture where party loyalty routinely overrides duty to the nation. It is a system that rewards denial over dialogue, posturing over pragmatism. It breeds the kind of destructive opposition we are now witnessing. The current NPP conduct may be extreme, but it is not exceptional in Ghana's democratic experience. Africa Deserves Better Opposition This crisis demands a new kind of politics. Not just new governments, but new oppositions as well. Not just leadership in office, but leadership in waiting. Africa needs opposition parties that do not view every government failure as a political opportunity, but instead treat national well-being as the non-negotiable priority it should be. Ghana's current situation shows that this is not a utopian ideal. It is possible. Only if political actors are willing to set aside ego for the country and partisan interest for the public good. Opposition parties must understand that the credibility they seek at the next election begins with how they behave in defeat. Power, when eventually granted, is not a trophy to be celebrated, but a burden to be carried. And credibility is not acquired through performance, but through consistency, humility, and the capacity to put the nation first, even when it means saying "yes" to a good idea from a political rival. This is the test. And so far, Ghana's main opposition is failing it by openly wishing for national failure, denying public progress, and scorning facts that challenge its narrative. In doing so, it is not merely weakening the government; it is undermining the very spirit of democracy it claims to defend. The politics of perpetual negation must come to an end. The country deserves an opposition that can both question and collaborate, criticise and contribute, resist and respect. Until then, democracy will remain a ritual of elections without the substance of governance, and opposition will be little more than a stage for grievance rather than a platform for national renewal. Dr. Muhammad Dan Suleiman is the founding director of the Centre for Alternative Politics & Security West Africa (www.caps-wa.org). He is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, and a research fellow at the School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry at Curtin University, Australia. Email: mld.suleiman@gmail.com