By Akyeampong Duodu
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) went into the 2024 general elections with poorly managed intra-party issues, which cost them dearly, resulting in the most embarrassing defeat an incumbent party has ever experienced. This was the first time in the country’s history that a ruling party lost an election by almost a two-million-vote margin.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the party’s presidential candidate for the 2024 elections, attributed this abysmal performance to voter apathy among members and supporters. The Statistician-cum-Economist might not be far from the truth, given that the NPP’s 2024 votes dropped by almost two million compared to that of 2020.
Reorganisation
The elections are over, and the party has resolved to embark on a journey of reorganizing and rebuilding itself. Two individuals have emerged as the faces of the NPP, expressing interest in leading the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition into the next presidential elections.
One is an old face who has contributed immensely and diversely to building and rebuilding the party, while the other is a “Latter-Day Saint” with relatively minimal contribution to the party’s growth. The persons in question are Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the former Assin Central Member of Parliament, and Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the former Vice President of the Republic.
The emergence of these two unique individuals has presented the NPP with two varied foundations upon which the party could be reorganized and rebuilt—raising the question: whose foundation should the party adopt—Mr. Agyapong’s track record or Dr. Bawumia’s? This question can only be objectively answered by examining the contributions of these two individuals to the building and rebuilding of the NPP.
History
Historical records reveal that Mr. Agyapong’s contributions to the development and reorganization of the NPP predate the party’s formation in 1992. As a founding member of the United States-based Danquah-Busia Club, on whose philosophical foundation the NPP was established, Mr. Agyapong has donated huge sums of money to the party since its inception.
Notably, his financial and logistical contributions have not only been substantial but also timely. He began donating millions of U.S. dollars to the party as far back as 1992, when the NPP had no realistic chance of winning elections. Additionally, party records show that Mr. Agyapong has donated over 600 vehicles to the NPP since 1992.
Dr. Bawumia, on his part, joined the NPP in 2008—after the party had won two successive elections and governed the country for eight years.
He was fortunate to be made the running mate of former President Akufo-Addo, who was the party’s flagbearer in the 2008 elections. As an inexperienced newcomer to both the NPP and Ghanaian politics, his contribution to the party’s electoral fortunes in those elections was relatively minimal.
Limelight
However, Dr. Bawumia shot into the limelight in NPP and Ghanaian politics as a whole when he served as the party’s chief witness in the 2012 election petition. He demonstrated brilliance by leveraging his statistical expertise to analyze the 2012 election results in the Supreme Court.
Having been the party’s running mate in both the 2008 and 2012 general elections, Dr. Bawumia gained the experience necessary to make a significant intellectual impact in the 2016 electioneering campaign. He applied his knowledge in economics to help expose the perceived incompetence of the John Dramani Mahama administration.
Nonetheless, under the leadership of former President Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia, the party has returned to opposition with the most humiliating defeat in its political history. This has necessitated the rebuilding and reorganization of the NPP, with Mr. Agyapong and Dr. Bawumia emerging as de facto leaders.
The question remains: on whose foundation should the NPP reorganize and rebuild itself—Mr. Agyapong’s long-standing selflessness or Dr. Bawumia’s unsustained latest glory?
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