Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi, the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Anyaa Sowutuom, has dismissed claims that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) defeat in the 2024 general elections was solely due to governance issues, insisting that the party’s presidential candidature Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, played a decisive role in the loss.
His remarks have ignited a fierce debate within the elephant family, challenging the narrative that a difficult economic climate was the only barrier to breaking the eight-year cycle of governance.
“This trend suggests the problem was not with the NPP as a party, but with its presidential candidate. Let’s not lump everything into governance; candidature matters, and we needed a formidable, strong, level-headed candidate. We still do”
Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi, Former MP for Anyaa Sowutuom
Dr. Adomako Kissi pointed to specific voting patterns from the December 7 polls to bolster his argument, noting that in several constituencies, NPP parliamentary candidates successfully won their seats or secured more votes than the party’s presidential candidate.
This data, he argued, suggests that while the electorate remained open to the NPP as a political brand, they were specifically unenthusiastic about the choice of the flagbearer. Looking toward the 2028 elections, Dr. Kissi believes the party must undergo a radical shift in its selection criteria.
He argued that the NPP needs a candidate who possesses a rare combination of intellectual depth and aggressive political energy – specifically, championing the former Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, as the ideal successor to lead the party out of its current slump.
“As it stands now, we need all the halves of the party. I am talking about those who are vociferous, those who are the Kennedy type, and we need the intellectual bit too, and Bryan Acheampong is two in one”
Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi, Former MP for Anyaa Sowutuom
For him, the party’s future depends on a leader who can both debate policy and mobilize the base with fire.
Rejecting Isolation Tactics
Furthermore, this attempt by some NPP stalwarts to decouple the party’s 2024 presidential candidate from its broader performance was also sharply criticized by Lamtiig Apanga, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Gaming Commission.
Mr. Apanga argued that the effort to isolate former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia from the erstwhile administration’s record is a logical fallacy, maintaining that the leadership must collectively account for its time in power.
Apanga contended that Dr. Bawumia was not a passive bystander but an integral architect of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration. Consequently, he believes the former Vice President cannot be shielded from the criticism directed at the government’s perceived failures, particularly in economic management.
“If the delegates at the grassroots decide not to grant the same leadership another mandate, it sends a clear message that they do not want a continuation. There is no way Dr. Bawumia can be isolated from the poor performance because he was part of the team”
Lamtiig Apanga, Deputy CEO of Ghana Gaming Commission
However for Apanga, the NPP’s 2024 results represent a systemic rejection that cannot be blamed on one individual’s personality alone. He believes the party must return to its grassroots and rebuild genuine public trust through collective accountability rather than attempting to “sanitize” individual records for future gain.
This internal tug-of-war occurs against a backdrop of defense from loyalists such as Sarah Adwoa Safo, the former MP for Dome-Kwabenya. She has remained a vocal defender of the former Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, urging party delegates to ignore assertions that he was the primary cause of the defeat.
Adwoa Safo has consistently argued that his influence over macroeconomic decisions was often constrained, making it unfair to hold him solely responsible for the economic challenges that dominated the last year of the NPP government.
As the NPP begins its long journey back to the polls, the synergy between Dr. Kissi’s “candidature-centric” critique and Apanga’s “collective responsibility” argument continues to define the upcoming internal primaries.
The party now stands at a crossroads: either find a “two-in-one” figure like Bryan Acheampong to refresh the brand or reconcile with the collective baggage of its eight-year governance record and present the former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
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