By Prosper AGBENYEGA
The New Patriotic Party’s National Delegates Conference in Kumasi has brought to a close another chapter in the party’s internal political contest and, more importantly, opened the door to what could be its most consequential test before the 2028 general election.
In his address to the conference, NPP flagbearer and leader, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, delivered a message that deserves serious attention: the internal contest must end when the ballots are counted, and the party must unite around the larger objective of regaining the trust of Ghanaians.
That is easier said than done.
The NPP has just gone through an extensive internal restructuring, from polling station executives through electoral area coordinators, constituency and regional executives, culminating in the election of national officers. Dr Bawumia described the process as part of a broader effort to listen, learn and reform the party following its defeat in the 2024 election.
But elections within political parties often leave behind wounds that do not disappear simply because a winner has been declared.
Campaign teams develop loyalties. Personal relationships are tested. Aspirants make promises to delegates. Supporters invest emotionally and politically in candidates. When the contest ends, some of those networks can remain active beneath the surface.
That is why Dr Bawumia’s call for the competing camps to unite must move beyond rhetoric.
His instruction to the winners to make their first call to their defeated opponents was particularly important. The party cannot afford a situation in which yesterday’s campaign rivals become tomorrow’s internal opposition.
The NPP needs every capable hand.
Dr Bawumia himself acknowledged that the large number of aspirants who contested the nine national positions demonstrated that the party was not short of leadership talent. The challenge, therefore, is not necessarily a shortage of people. It is whether the party can organise its people around a common purpose.
That common purpose must be bigger than individual ambitions.
The 2028 campaign cannot begin with internal quarrels
The NPP has ample time before the next general election, but that time should not be wasted on another cycle of internal positioning.
Dr Bawumia told the delegates that the party had already begun work on its policy programme and would not wait until the campaign period to start thinking about how it would govern. Various policy committees have been established and engagements with stakeholders are ongoing.
This is the right direction.
Ghanaians will not judge the NPP merely by the strength of its criticism of the governing NDC. They will want to know what the party has learnt from its time in government, what it would do differently and why the electorate should trust it again.
The party therefore has a responsibility to develop a credible alternative programme grounded in evidence, consultation and practical solutions—the very lessons Dr Bawumia said the NPP had learnt from its post-2024 reflection.
A serious opposition party must hold government accountable. But opposition politics cannot consist solely of identifying the failures of the government of the day.
The NPP must also convince Ghanaians that it has answers.
Accountability must be matched by credibility
Dr Bawumia used his speech to raise concerns over unemployment, electricity tariffs, the cost of living, Free SHS, galamsey, drug trafficking and what he described as the alleged abuse of state power.
These are legitimate areas for political scrutiny.
But the NPP must be careful not to fall into the trap of believing that criticism of the NDC automatically translates into electoral support for the NPP.
It does not.
The electorate will compare both parties. They will examine the NDC’s record, but they will also remember the NPP’s own record in government. Every criticism the NPP makes today will inevitably be measured against what it did when it controlled the Executive.
That makes the party’s promised internal reform particularly important.
Dr Bawumia said the party had learnt that good policy intentions must be matched by sound evidence, careful design and genuine consultation.
The NPP should hold itself to that standard.
If the party wants Ghanaians to believe that it has changed, that change must be visible not only in speeches but in the quality of its policies, the conduct of its officials and the way it treats citizens.
Unity cannot mean silence
There is another important distinction.
Unity should not mean suppressing disagreement.
The NPP is a democratic political organisation. Dr Bawumia himself acknowledged that members compete vigorously and exchange different views.
A united party can still have internal debate. In fact, healthy disagreement may strengthen a political organisation by exposing weaknesses before they become national problems.
What the party must avoid is destructive factionalism—where personal loyalty becomes more important than institutional interest.
The new national executives should therefore create an environment in which defeated candidates and their supporters feel genuinely included, not merely tolerated.
A person who loses an internal election should not be made to feel that his or her political career has ended. Dr Bawumia’s declaration that “there is work for all of us” must become a practical principle of party organisation.
The real election is still ahead
The NPP’s delegates have now chosen their leaders.
That election is over.
The bigger election—the one that will determine whether the party returns to government—is still ahead.
The party therefore has little justification for spending the coming months fighting yesterday’s battles.
Its national executives must reach out to the defeated candidates. The candidates must accept the results. Constituency and regional structures must close ranks. The party’s policy teams must get to work. And the leadership must create a clear mechanism through which ordinary members can contribute to the rebuilding process.
Most importantly, the NPP must reconnect with voters beyond its traditional support base.
The party cannot win 2028 merely by mobilising its existing supporters. It must persuade Ghanaians who did not vote for it in 2024 that it has listened, learnt and changed.
To us at CURRENT ISSUES, that is ultimately what Dr Bawumia’s call for unity should mean.
Not unity for its own sake.
Bu Unity as a means to rebuild trust. Unity to develop better policies. Unity to reconnect with the electorate. And unity to present a credible alternative to the Ghanaian voter.
The NPP came to Kumasi to elect its new leadership. It should leave Kumasi with something more valuable: a genuine commitment to work together.
As Dr Bawumia put it, the party must leave Kumasi “as a party that is united and ready.”
The opportunity is now before the NPP.
Whether that unity survives beyond the conference hall will determine whether the party’s 2028 ambition becomes a serious political project—or remains another conference slogan.
