The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) faces what Solomon Owusu, Senior Communicator for the Movement for Change (MfC) has described as political disintegration, with its internal search for a presidential flag-bearer likened to “looking for a driver for a wrecked vehicle.”
According to him, the party’s electoral prospects are beyond repair, having lost critical political strongholds and public trust. Owusu’s remarks came in a sharp critique that questioned the integrity, competence, and electability of leading figures within the NPP ahead of the 2028 elections.
“Their car has crashed and instead of getting a mechanic to fix it, they are busy going to the market to find a driver. If they get a driver, which vehicle is the person going to drive?”
Solomon Owusu, Senior Communicator For The MfC
Owusu painted a grim picture of the NPP’s performance in the 2024 elections across the country, stressing the party’s diminished presence in the 9th Parliament.
He observed that in four regions – the Oti Region, Volta Region, Upper East Region, and Upper West Region – the NPP currently holds no parliamentary seats, while in five others, they manage only one MP each. In the Greater Accra Region, a vital electoral battleground, the party holds merely five seats.
He questioned the viability of the party’s electoral comeback strategy, particularly in northern areas. “They recorded zero in 30 polling stations in the Kusasi areas,” he said, referring to the Bawku region, despite efforts to mobilize local support through grassroots polling station executives.
Owusu criticized the erstwhile NPP government’s appointees for mismanaging public resources, citing the case of GIHOC Distilleries, which allegedly ran into losses under former Managing Director Maxwell Kofi Dwumah. He questioned how someone could incur losses from selling alcohol, and raised concerns over how the former executive acquired a luxury Genesis G90 vehicle for a mere GHS 4,943.
He dismissed the defense that age should shield such individuals from scrutiny. “He’s old? An old man that knows how to enjoy luxury? Is that what they are telling us?” he said, rejecting calls from the NPP to excuse officials from accountability.
Speaking of the MfC and Ghana’s future, Solomon Owusu announced proudly that the new political party was getting ready to take the reins of power to “deal constructively and decisively with galamsey” and “deal with looters.”
Questionable Flag Bearers
Turning attention to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Owusu alleged that officials currently facing prosecution for financial misconduct were strong supporters of the former Vice President. According to him, “about 90% of those that have been accused of having stolen the country’s money” were supporting the NPP’s 2024 flag bearer.
He referenced the National Service Secretariat’s alleged financial irregularities that upon revelation began in 2023, during the NPP’s internal primaries. According to Owusu, the timing and the sudden display of wealth among certain individuals were not coincidental. Among those named were Gifty Oware, Mustapha Yusif, and Kwaku Ohene Gyan, also known as ‘Osonoba.’
“They were flaunting wealth as though they had money printing machines in their homes,” he said, questioning the source and timing of the alleged misappropriations.
Speaking further, Owusu stated that the former Vice President had failed to live up to his credentials on many fronts.
“I have said time without number that the greatest disservice the party, that’s the NPP, and former President Nana Akufo-Addo – who has run away from the system – did, was to inflict onto the people of this country the person of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia”
Solomon Owusu, Senior Communicator For The MfC
He challenged the narrative that Bawumia could in the future deliver northern and Muslim votes for the NPP, claiming the former Vice President had based his 2024 campaign on religious and ethnic identity politics and still failed.
He also took a dig at Dr. Bawumia’s incompetence when it came to managing the affairs of the country’s economy in the last 8 years. He cited Dr. Bawumia’s new found fear and strategic avoidance of economic conversations as unfortunate evidence of his inabilities.
Having given a detailed assessment of the former Vice President, Owusu decisively ruled out the possibility of any of the prominent NPP figures posing a challenge in 2028.
“None of the front liners or those that really want to contest in the NPP primaries fascinate me. In fact they don’t have to go close to power. None of them must even conceive the idea”
Solomon Owusu, Senior Communicator For The MfC
He singled out Dr. Bryan Acheampong, alleging the former Minister for Agriculture once attempted to acquire the Labadi Beach Resort, a state asset. “If as a minister, he wanted to buy Labadi Beach Resort – if he becomes the president of this country, is he not going to sell me?” he asked.
He also expressed concern over Ghana’s current debt to ECOWAS buffer stock, saying 27,000 tons of rice were owed under Acheampong’s tenure, raising further doubts about his competence and suitability for higher office.
The Last John
Despite current political fatigue, the former NPP member insisted that the political future lay with a new face “the last John.”
He argued that Ghana’s history of leadership under men named John had led to national stability, citing Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor, John Evans Atta Mills, and former and current President John Dramani Mahama.
He referred to former President Nana Akuffo Addo’s regime as a glitch, and a mishap that shouldn’t have happened in Ghana’s history, blaming all the country’s woes over the last 8 years on this unfortunate interruption to the reign of “the Johns.”
Despite commending Ghanaians for eventually realising their fault and “reversing” the error in the 2024 elections by restoring President John Dramani Mahama to power, he charged them to get ready for the next and rightful John in the succession.
“There is a last John to crown the invasion of Johns in our country’s leadership,” he said, naming John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, leader of the Movement for Change as the political figure to watch in 2028.
Solomon Owusu’s analysis cast doubt on the credibility and viability of the NPP’s leadership contenders while hinting at an ideological and political shift that he believes Ghanaians are ready to embrace.
His remarks suggest a broader call for renewal – not just within the NPP but across Ghana’s political landscape – as public trust in traditional structures continues to wane.
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