It has been only a few days since the New Patriotic Party elected former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as its flagbearer for the 2028 general elections. 

The decision to elect our flagbearer three years ahead of the next general elections was neither accidental nor cosmetic. It was a deliberate strategic directive by the Party’s National Council; designed to give the Party time, clarity, and unity to rebuild our structures and to work to regain public confidence, present a more attrative and confident Party to the electorate to reclaim political power in 2029. 

Yet, almost immediately, a troubling trend has begun to emerge.

Across social media platforms and even sections of the mainstream media, party members have rushed into premature declarations and alignments with national and regional executive positions aspirants.

While internal democracy is the lifeblood of the NPP, we must be careful not to allow internal contestations to overshadow our most urgent national responsibility: holding the ruling NDC government to account.

The early election of our flagbearer was not meant to open the floodgates for factional manoeuvering, but to give the NPP a formidable standard bearer, a clear voice, and a focused programme and mission to reorganize, reconnect with the electorate, and expose the widening gap between the NDC’s campaign promises and its performance in government. 

That gap is growing by the day. 

The NDC government is over a year now, and they are struggling to deliver on several flagship promises that formed the basis of its 2024 electoral victory. The much-advertised fight against illegal mining (galamsey) remains weak and inconsistent, with environmental destruction continuing unabated. Illegal mining has monumentally increased in the last one year than it occurred in the last eight years under the NPP administration. Promised Farmers’ Service Centres have yet to meaningfully materialize for the ordinary farmer. The much “celebrated” 24-hour economy, branded with slogans and soundbites, has not translated into real jobs or expanded productivity. In point of fact, it is a mirage! The establishment of their manifesto documented Women’s Development Bank is an apparition.

More worrying is the lived experience of Ghanaians.

The nurse who has worked for thirteen months but has been paid for only three expects, not silence, but advocacy. The teacher who has received just one or two months’ salary over a similar period expects the NPP to speak up. The unemployed graduate who voted on the promise of a “1 job, 3 shift, 3 employees economy” expects us to ask harder questions on their behalf. Rising prices and declining purchasing power are not abstract economic indicators; they are daily realities for millions of households.

This is where the NPP must be present, vocal, and relentless.

This is not an argument against internal democracy. Far from it, but internal processes must not be elevated above our duty to the Ghanaian people. We cannot appear more interested in positions than in purpose. We must not look like a party talking to itself while the nation bleeds. We are the official opposition and must act as such.

The NPP must put its house in order, yes, but we must also step outside that house and confront the failures of the NDC government head-on. Political accountability, not internal rivalry, must define this phase of our rebuilding. We cannot decide that we have to complete our internal elections before we start challenging President Mahama and his declining government. 

Our LAME DUCK National Executives must exercise firm oversight and enforce discipline and use the remaining eight months left to complete their tenure to do something useful for the party. Our flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia must emerge, not merely as a candidate, but as the principal advocate for suffering Ghanaians. And every card-bearing member, from polling station executives to national leadership, communicators, must align with this singular mission.

History is clear: opposition parties do not win power by default; they win by relevance, empathy, and credibility.

The road to 2028 has already begun. Whether we reclaim power will depend not on how early we position ourselves internally but on how boldly we stand with the people of Ghana today in this deceitful government.

Let us rise to the moment. Let us do what needs to be done. Ghana needs us now. We must amplify our voice and be visible in our task in holding the NDC’s feet to the fire.

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