NPP Chairmanship Race: Choosing Wontumi Over Boakye Agyarko is a Suicidal Mission for Grassroots

The race for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairmanship is taking shape as aspirants declare intentions to contest for the enviable position. So far, three persons including Mr. Boakye Agyarko, Mr. John Boadu and Mr. Antwi Bosiako popularly called Chairman Wontumi have declared their intentions to vie for the position.

One thing is paramount to the party as they reorganize themselves to face the 2028 electoral battle. And that is unity. In view of this, the next national chairman of the NPP is expected to unite the party for the 2028 elections. Uniting the party means doing everything humanly possible to get everyone on board the 2028 campaign train.

As they unite to fight for power, it is equally important for the grassroots to guide against the danger of being ignored after electoral victory as the case was in 2016. Nonetheless, this phenomenon is a painful reality that can repeat itself unless the grassroots take deliberate steps to curtail it.

It is my candidate believe and opinion, that the election of Wontumi as the next National Chairman of the NPP will result in the total neglect of the grassroot members of the party. Why?

Knowledge, they say is power and that is true. Unfortunately, Wontumi lacks this power. So, this will automatically make him a weak chairman of a political party in power. And if the head is weak, the body will be weak. Thus, with Wuntomi as the National Chairman of the NPP in power, the party will be weak. When the party is weak, it will not be able to prevail over members of government to attend to the genuine needs and concerns of the grassroots.

This is exactly what happened after the NPP's victory in 2016. After giving their best to the party to win a landslide victory over the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the grassroots who demonstrated the potential of excelling in politics, giving the chance, were sidelined by their Members of Parliament (MPs), especially those who had juicy political appointments like ministerial or deputy ministerial portfolios.

The national leadership of the NPP was so weak that every opportunity went to the MPs. Unfortunately, some of the MPs forgot that it was the sacrifices of their grassroots that won them their seats, so they turned to bully them. They weaponised themselves with the spoils of the election victory against the grassroots members. To cut the long story short. That is how come the seats of the NPP in Parliament dropped to 138 in 2020 from 169 in 2016.

To avoid a similar thing from happening, the grassroots must vote for a knowledgeable, strong, experienced person who can hold the party and the government together. The right person in this case is Mr. Agyarko. He knows inside and out of the party. He has political experience. No potential minister of state understands policies and governance more than him. So, no "Over sabi" minister can go against his directive at cabinet and other strategic party meetings. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia cannot conveniently go against his advice, especially when it has to do with the dismissal of government appointees who do not work in the supreme interest of the party.

Dear delegates, for the very reason that Mr. Agyarko is the right person who can champion your interest, many potential ministers, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Execute Directors and Managing Directors will come to you to tell you to vote against him. If you fall for this, you would have yourselves to blame in 2029.

The author is a regular contributor to News Commentary, a current affairs programme by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and a columnist with Modern Ghana, an esteemed online news portal.

By Bala Ali