Political Science lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Dr Jonathan Asante Otchere, has questioned the considerations that led New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates to elect John Boadu as National Chairman despite rejecting him in the party’s previous General Secretary contest.
Mr Boadu secured 2,888 votes to win the chairmanship at the NPP’s National Delegates Conference in Kumasi on October 3, defeating former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko and former National Chairman Paul Afoko.
But Dr Asante Otchere said the latest outcome raised questions about whether the concerns that influenced delegates against Mr Boadu four years ago had since been resolved.
Speaking on Citi FM on Monday, October 5, he said the issue was particularly significant because pre-election polling had placed Mr Boadu ahead of Mr Agyarko in the chairmanship race.
“The most important portfolio that everyone was talking about was the Chairmanship, and the question that I asked the delegates before the election was based on the polling that had come out putting John Boadu ahead of Boakye Agyarko,” he said.
He said delegates therefore needed to explain what had changed between Mr Boadu’s previous unsuccessful bid for General Secretary and his successful campaign for National Chairman.
“So the question I asked myself and the delegates is that those considerations that made you vote against John Boadu for the General Secretary four years ago, have those factors changed?” he asked.
Dr Asante Otchere argued that if the factors remained unchanged, the decision to elect Mr Boadu required further explanation.
“Since those factors have not changed, for me, it was a wrong decision on the part of the delegates to elect John Boadu,” he said.
Mr Boadu, a former General Secretary of the NPP, is now expected to lead the party’s national executive team for the next four years as it reorganises its structures ahead of the 2028 general election.
His election followed a closely contested chairmanship race in which Mr Agyarko polled 2,408 votes and Mr Afoko secured 790 votes, while Sammy Crabbe received 41 votes.
