NPP being run by cohort of ‘small boys’ – Franklin Cudjoe

President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has launched a scathing critique of the current leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), accusing it of lacking vision and disregarding the seasoned counsel of party elders.

His remarks come in the aftermath of comments by former President John Agyekum Kufuor, who recently lamented being sidelined from the party’s affairs and decision-making processes. Responding to the issue on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue on Saturday, July 19, Cudjoe said the current trajectory of the NPP is a stark departure from the party’s founding principles and a sign of deeper leadership rot.

“To think that now the party is being run by ‘small boys’, a direction or compass, and they are just walking and making it look like they are some big boys — it is a travesty for that party,” he said.

Cudjoe decried what he described as a willful disregard for experienced voices within the party, suggesting that the current crop of leaders has isolated itself from valuable guidance that could help steer the party through its post-2024 defeat recovery.

“I am shocked that some people have formed that cohort and will not pay attention to any wise voice. Either way, they still need advice, some sharpening guidance, and shepherding,” he stressed.

Citing specific decisions as evidence of mismanagement, Cudjoe described the NPP’s failure to contest the Ablekuma North by-election as a catastrophic misstep.

“That decision from the secretary not to contest the Ablekuma North rerun was the most senseless order by a party that is getting into an election. And they could have won that election,” he argued.

He questioned the strategic thinking behind the party’s choices, warning that if such judgment persists, the NPP will be doomed in 2028.

“So, who advised them to take that decision? If that is the way they are going to go into the next election, they have lost,” he warned.

Cudjoe called for urgent introspection and reform, stating that the party appears completely unprepared for the next general election cycle.

“I do not see how they are organised or fortified for the next election. I hope that the conference will lead to some reforms,” he said.

He added that if the current leadership cannot pivot towards credible, strategic planning, the NPP risks losing its relevance as a viable political force.

“Otherwise, I would rather they regroup and give us a serious alternative to the NDC; otherwise, there is no single statement they have made that seems to sound to me like they understand what hit them and that they are ready to take power in the next election.”