On the wheels of incumbency and the influence from the presidency, 38% was garnered. The fear of its absence is enough to create a mini party level incumbency to be cushioned. Time in this instance remains the judge.
When a presidential primary is reduced to a battle of endorsements, know that a vacuum of ideas and suspicion is created yawning to be filled with money deciding who gets the nod.
The NPP presidential aspirants in their coming primaries must reevaluate their approach towards protesting the NEC’s decision to hold the NPP presidential primaries in early 2026. The early presidential primaries decision by NEC is a smart and clever strategy though with some tentacles capable of reducing especially the weaker candidates to nothing by January 2026.
Who will in this case become the ‘insect’ to fly away from the elephant party at the end, as was once the case. Will it be a ‘tsetse fly’ this time, being the worst enemy of elephants known in history?
The more they protest the decision in the media, the courts, and among some elders openly and behind closed doors, directly or indirectly, the more they waste precious time to market themselves and their ideas to the delegates.
The decision by the current National Executive Committee of the NPP to hold their presidential delegate congress to elect a flag bearer in January 2026, has the tendency to harm the party. The decision questions the democratic credentials of the NPP party and, to some extent, covertly flushes out the new entrants in the presidential primary race, like honorable Bryan Achaempong completely. This is because, by the time the faces in the race fully sell their message and themselves nationwide, the primaries would have been over.
Early presidential primaries stand to create serious confusion and division in the party which will ultimately lead to lack of support from the new executives to be elected later to the victorious candidate, especially if their candidate loses. Sabotage may become the order of the day.
It is understandable that Bawumia’s camp have done the calculus and probably believing in the fact that his name is still fresh on the minds of many, it is important to keep it buoyant before the name Bawumia fades away. Is it to get the nod quickly before there is any mention of Bawumia’s name in the current NDC government’s ORAL investigations?
It could also play against Kennedy Agyapong and Bryan Acheampong if their names get mentioned to be under investigations. Should they be under investigations, time will not be on their side to clear their names before the January 2026 presidential primaries of the NPP, hence becoming an advantage for Dr. Bawumia. Which party would like to field a candidate soaked in criminal investigations?
Former president Nana Akuffo Addo already made that publicly clear when he addressed the youth of Assin North when the NDC candidate James Gyakye Quayson was in court over the timing of renunciation of his Canadian citizenship before contesting for the Assin North constituency Parliamentary seat. He called on the people of Assin North not to vote for a candidate who is frequenting the court to clear himself, arguing that honorable Gyakye Quayson will not have time to serve their interest in Parliament.
Honourable James Gyakye Quayson has since been acquitted and discharged and he is fully representing and serving his people in Parliament.
Kennedy Agyapong and Bryan Acheampong must find ways to market themselves within this short space of time, especially Bryan Acheampong. Kennedy Agyapong can begin holding Dr. Bawumia constantly to his past economic decisions and failures in his capacity as the head of the Economic Management Team then, especially using the Dollar to Cedi rate the past years under Bawumia’s 8 years as Vice president to trumpet why he, Kennedy Agyepong is a viable candidate instead.
He can also hammer on the closure of some banking institutions under his watch to question Dr. Bawumia’s credibility, especially with the current cedi and economic growth being recorded by the NDC.
Bryan Acheampong on the other hand, can also remind delegates about the cedi and banking closer situation. He can also request to debate Dr. Bawumia one on one live, and if possible request the same from Kennedy Agyapong. The debate will give him instant marketing of his person, and capability within this few months to the primaries. Unless he was planted by the Bawumia team to weaken Kennedy Agyapong.
The National Democratic Party (NDC)’s great performance in the area of the economy and governance the past five months can be enough of a sledge hammer for some of the NPP presidential aspirants to use in deflating any move or strategy fashioned against them. They are woefully failing to recognize this simple inexpensive but potent strategy. Instead, they are blindly fixated about making mountains out of early primaries and holding of the National Executives elections after that.
If there are no lessons to clinch on, at least everybody knows that once upon a time, a well executed strategy was hatched by the same players that eventually led to the birth of the yellow butterflies and bruised others that stuck around. This time around, many more ‘insects’ stand to be birthed, the color of which cannot be readily predicted.
However, should the dice go the other way, all must be rest assured a ‘Tsetse fly’ stands to be birthed, and the birth of any ‘insect’ in the NPP is at least four years if not eight or twelve years easy addition to basking in the wilderness of painful life in opposition. Age is not on anyone’s side, and for the citizenry, if it means the NPP stays in opposition for 100 years while their basic life necessity, fundamental human rights and well being is guaranteed, HALLELUJAH will forever be their chorus.
I rest my PEN.
Mustapha Alhassan
Pennsylvania, USA.
