In what can only be described as a tragicomic episode in Ghana’s political theater, the New Patriotic Party, fresh from a bruising and ignominious electoral defeat has taken its internal chaos on tour. What began as a nationwide “Thank You Tour” has now degenerated into a traveling circus of accusations, infighting, and political backstabbing (no PUN intended).
The latest casualty? None other than the National Chairman himself, “Silent” Stephen Ntim. In an official statement from NPP headquarters, the party through its Director of Communications, Mr Richard Ahiagbah delicately informed “all members and the public” that the Chairman was taking a “brief break” from the tour to “attend to some pressing matters.” To wit; he’s had enough of the madness and has jumped off the sinking ship before it explodes entirely.
The grapevine tells a far juicier story. So the story goes that Chairman Ntim and the party’s failed 2024 presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, got into a heated fracas over the direction of the Tour. According to a highly-placed source, the Chairman questioned why the entire program seemed to be more of a Bawumia “Image Restoration Campaign” than a genuine party simulation exercise. Dr Bawumia, in classic “I am the digital messiah” fashion, reportedly told the Chairman to “go to hell,” declaring he wouldn’t take instructions from “an old weak chairman.” Cue the Chairman slamming the brakes on his Tour Bus and walking straight out of the mess.
This is not the first time egos have clashed in the NPP’s post-defeat trauma therapy sessions. The tour was already marred by bitter divisions between Bawumia’s camp and that of Hon Kennedy Agyapong—the man whose supporters believe the 2023 NPP Presidential primary was a daylight robbery. The friction between these camps came to a head in Kumasi, where a KNUST student and Hon Kennedy Agyapong supporter was reportedly stabbed in a melee that resembled more of a WWE SmackDown roadshow than a Unity Tour.
Before that criminal activity in Kumasi, the Bono Region offered its own fireworks at Berekum. In a fiery confrontation that nearly turned a party meeting into a “WHO BORN DOG” boxing match, Kennedy Agyapong and Bono Regional Chairman Kwame Baffoe Abronye went toe to toe in a verbal brawl. Witnesses say Mr Kennedy Agyapong in retaliatory assault accused Abronye of being a “sellout and political fraud” who campaigned in the primaries with two faces—one for Bawumia and another for his pocket. Mr Agyapong in his usual brush and bragging posture claimed Mr Abronye always go round begging people for money and therefore lacks the temerity and the financial clout to be an Okro mouth. “Some people talk as if they own the party, but they don’t. ”If we are seeking real men in the party, they don’t measure up. “Their financial contribution is minimal. ”They go around begging yet they have mouths to talk. “Even you poor people want to speak your mind, how much more rich men like us. Who born dog!” a boiling Kennedy Agyapong exploded, leaving Dr Bawumia and others speechless.
Abronye, never one to back down from a fight or a microphone, was the first to fire salvos at Mr Agyapong that he was acting like a bitter boxer who lost the match and came back to fight the referee— referring to their internal contest that got Dr Bawumia elected for the December 2024 election disgrace. Chairman Abronye also accused Mr Agyapong of being a disruptive element in their quest to unite and galvanize their base towards the 2028 elections.
Another embarrassing spectacle had earlier occurred in Takoradi during the Thank You Tour of the region involving one Mr Opare Ansah, the NPP 2024 elections’ Campaign Manager, and Nana B, the NPP’s Regional Organizer. It was reported that Nana B received a resounding slap across the face from Mr Frederick Opare-Ansah for allowing Mr Kennedy Agyapong to address party members during the tour at Takorandi Technical University. Yes, in broad daylight, during what was supposed to be a thank-you event. Eyewitnesses say Nana B’s only crime was attempting to mediate between the feuding camps by handing the microphone to Mr Agyapong before an angry Mr Ansah “thanked” him with five fingers of fury.
Indeed, this unique “Thank You Tour” continues to write itself into the Guinness Book of Political Embarrassments. No wonder both Mr Kennedy Agyapong and Chairman Stephen Ntim have been crashed out by the Bawumia faction from the higgledy-piggledy Thank You Tour.
Now, with Kennedy Agyapong fuming, Bawumia blaming everyone except himself for the historic electoral defeat, and the Chairman abandoning ship, the NPP seems less like a political party and more like a telenovela in its final, messy season. One can’t help but note the irony, that this is the same party that once ran this country, albeit into economic despair, corruption overload, and a family-and-friends governance style that culminated in their demise.
The “Thank You Tour” was supposed to be a moment of reflection and renewal. Instead, it’s become a confessional booth of finger-pointing, war-mongering and public humiliation. The NPP, now a masterclass in how not to lose gracefully, risks becoming a footnote in Ghana’s political history if it doesn’t get its house in order. They must accept defeat, reflect, and reorganize like a mature political party, and stop displaying bitterness, division, and chaos. Ghana is on RESET and does not need drama.
Ghanaians remember with crystal clarity how they endured years of economic hardship under the NPP and with the benefit of hindsight were looking forward to at least a responsible opposition. But if the current display is anything to go by, we may have to import one. Some are even calling for the suspension or dissolution of the NPP before it becomes a full blown disaster.
If this is the NPP in opposition, maybe we really did get off lightly when they were in power.
Written by: Yahuza Berkhoff— A political enthusiast//Satirist, who cares about Ghana’s democracy (Even if the NPP does not)!!!
