Dr Bryan Acheampong’s recent comments against Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia are not only disappointing but dangerous to the unity and future of our party. For a Member of Parliament and Presidential hopeful to reduce the flagbearership race to issues of ethnicity is a betrayal of the very foundation of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition. Our party prides itself of meritocracy and inclusivity. The NPP has never been about where you come from but what you bring to the table. Bryan’s reckless comments is an attack on our constitution, values, diversity and most seriously the laws of our country.

I submit the following remarks to challenge Dr Acheampong’s dirty and exasperating propaganda against the former Vice President and one of the finest gentleman of our country.

1. Ethnicity and the Bawku Conflict

The attempt to link Dr. Bawumia personally to the Bawku conflict because he is Mamprusi is cheap, reckless, and divisive. That conflict predates Dr Bryan by decades and requires national effort to ensure absolute peace returns to the area not political scapegoating.

Dr. Bawumia has never been a tribal leader. He has always been a national leader. His record as Vice President is unsurpassed. He delivered policies that touched every Ghanaian regardless of tribe. He was virtually the policy engine of the government.

Dr Bryan Acheampong should tell us his vision for Ghana – not engaging in tribal bigotry that the NDC will gladly use to divide us further. He ought to understand that what is being repugnantly said today in the flagbearership race would be used against us in the proper inter party campaign for 2028. We saw this happen to us in 2024 when Hon Agyarpong’s anti government comments were widely used by the NDC against us. 

3. Why We Lost 2024.

Let’s be clear: the 2024 elections were lost because of economic difficulties, organisational weaknesses, and our failure to effectively communicate our achievements to the electorates. It had nothing to do with Bawumia being a Mamprusi. To pin the party’s defeat on Dr Bawumia’s tribal identity is not only to avoid responsibility, it viciuosly undermines who we are as a political party.

4. Bryan’s Dangerous Game.

Dr  Acheampong must be reminded that the NPP wins when we are united; Christians and Muslims, North and South, Mamprusis and Kusasis, Asantes and Ewe. The politics of division he is introducing is exactly what the NDC wants. If we buy into Bryan’s argument, we are telling members of party who are Mamprusis that they can die for this party, vote for this party, and work for this party but they can never lead it because they are in conflict with  Kusasis. That is not only shameful, it is suicidal for our future as a national party. 

Dr. Bawumia represents inclusivity, modernisation, and a bridge between Ghana’s diverse groups. He is not running to be President as a Mamprusi; he is running as a competent Ghanaian with a proven track record.

The NPP must focus on ideas, leadership capacity, and electability – not on sectarian politics. Bryan Acheampong should elevate the conversation, not drag it into the gutter.

Any suggestion from anyway within the NPP that Ghana is not ready for a Mamprusi leader is not only an insult to Dr. Bawumia and the Mamprusi population in our country; they are also insulting the NPP grassroots who know that competence, not tribe or ethnicity will win us power in 2028. If Bryan Acheampong has no message beyond division, then he has no business leading a party as broad-based and progressive as the NPP.

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