Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly referred to NAPO has congratulated the newly elected regional executives of the New Patriotic Party across all sixteen regions and called on the party to close ranks behind flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The 2024 running mate to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and former Manhyia South Member of Parliament issued the message as the party completed the regional stage of its reorganisation.
Hon. Opoku Prempeh urged unsuccessful aspirants to remain active in the party’s rebuilding rather than withdraw after defeat, describing their commitment and experience as invaluable.
His appeal lands days before nominations open for national executive positions, in a contest that will determine who runs the party machinery through to the 2028 general election.
He addressed both winners and losers in the same message, beginning with those who prevailed. “Congratulations to all newly elected Regional Executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP: Development in Freedom) across the 16 regions of Ghana. I also commend every aspirant who offered themselves to serve our great Party,” he said.
The regional contests produced chairmen in most regions, with Odeneho Kwaku Appiah taking Ashanti, Bernard Okoe-Boye winning Greater Accra and Jeff Konadu Addo emerging in the Eastern Region. Western North was scheduled for 16 August, and results from Oti and Bono East had not been declared.
A message to those who lost
Hon. Opoku Prempeh devoted the central portion of his statement to defeated aspirants, framing their continued involvement as a party necessity rather than a courtesy. “To those who were unsuccessful, I urge you not to step away from the work. Your commitment, experience and strength remain invaluable to the rebuilding of the New Patriotic Party,” he said.
The appeal addresses a pattern familiar to both major parties. Internal contests frequently leave losing camps disengaged through the following cycle, taking organisational capacity and local networks with them at precisely the point a party needs both.
The final section turns from consolation to direction, and it carries the political weight of the statement. “From this point forward, we should all put the contest behind us and rally behind our flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the task ahead, as we work together towards victory in 2028,” he said.
Hon. Opoku Prempeh ran alongside Bawumia on the ticket that lost the 2024 general election, and the call to unity comes from someone with a direct stake in how the party organises around its candidate.
Nominations open this week
The regional elections form one stage of a roadmap the National Elections Committee published earlier this year. Nominations for national executive positions open on 17 August 2026 and close on 22 August, a six-day window for candidates seeking the offices that run the party day to day.
The National Executive Elections follow on 3 October 2026, when delegates choose the officers who will carry the party into the next electoral cycle. The compressed timetable places the newly elected regional executives in an immediate position of influence.
Regional structures mobilise the delegates who vote at national congress, and candidates for national office have weeks rather than months to secure their support.
That sequencing explains the tone of the message. A party moving from sixteen regional contests into a national election within seven weeks cannot afford prolonged disputes at regional level, and the losers of this month’s votes are among the people whose cooperation the October winners will need.
Rebuilding after 2024
The reorganisation follows the party’s loss of power in the 2024 general election, which ended eight years in office and prompted an internal review of what went wrong.
The regional results offer the first substantial reading of where the membership stands since that defeat. Chairmen elected this month carry their regions into national congress, and the balance among them will shape which national candidates can assemble a majority.
Hon. Opoku Prempeh frames the exercise as preparation for 2028 rather than settlement of internal scores. Whether the party’s regional camps accept that framing will become clear when nominations close on 22 August and the field for October takes shape.
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