Dr John Osae-Kwapong, Political Scientist, CDD-Ghana Fellow and Director of the Democracy Project, has backed Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s call for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to dissolve its camps. He made the case in an exclusive interview with The Vaultz News after the party’s National Delegates Conference in Kumasi.
He argued that the way winners treat losers will decide whether grievances heal or linger, in a contest where narrow margins decided two key races. He also urged party leaders to keep reminding every member of the goal the NPP shares.
“If you treat them with dignity, if you treat them with grace, that contributes to the healing process and the building of unity.”
Dr John Osae-Kwapong, Political Scientist, CDD-Ghana Fellow and Director of the Democracy Project
Narrow Margins Test NPP Unity
The results from Kumasi leave little room for complacency. John Boadu won the chairmanship by 480 votes, and only 31 votes separated the third and fourth vice chairmanship candidates. Dr Bawumia responded by asking the party to dissolve camps and unite for the 2028 election.
Dr Osae-Kwapong welcomed the directive without qualification. “It’s a very good call,” he stated. He then outlined what the party can do to heal after the contest and how reconciliation should work in practice.
Dr Osae-Kwapong placed the party ahead of any individual. He argued that “once internal elections are over, no matter the bruises, you have to keep in mind one thing: the party.”
“There is a shared common goal and therefore everyone’s focus, winners or losers, should be focused on that shared common goal of the party. It is the strengthening of the party, the repositioning of the party for the 2028 elections.”
Dr John Osae-Kwapong, Political Scientist, CDD-Ghana Fellow and Director of the Democracy Project
In his view, leaders must repeat the message to contestants, to those who stayed out of the race, and to the rank-and-file members, and he urged them to “keep hammering the fact that we have a common goal.”
How Winners Treat Losers
Dr Osae-Kwapong then placed a duty on the victors. “It is also how winners treat the losers,” describing it as the second thing that matters after an internal election. He also described what failure would look like.
“As opposed to if you treat the loser as rubbing it in, treating them as an outcast, then you allow the losers, if they have any grievances, to keep dragging those grievances to the detriment of the party.”
Dr John Osae-Kwapong, Political Scientist, CDD-Ghana Fellow and Director of the Democracy Project
The warning speaks to the officers who now hold the party’s national offices. Their treatment of rivals will shape how long the bruises from Kumasi last.
Fairness for Legitimate Concerns
Dr Osae-Kwapong’s advice also covers members who feel wronged. When people raise concerns, he urged leaders to “handle it with fairness.” He acknowledged that aggrieved members may feel hurt and may dislike the outcome. A fair hearing still changes how they respond, he argued.
“At least if they know that you listened and treated them fairly, then it allows them to embrace all calls for unity, and this shared common purpose that I keep talking about.”
Dr John Osae-Kwapong, Political Scientist, CDD-Ghana Fellow and Director of the Democracy Project
Party leaders have already pressed the unity message. John Boadu has declared that there must be no winners or losers as the party vows renewal before 2028. Minority Leader Hon Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin urged delegates to leave Kumasi united behind the 2028 bid.
The new officers were sworn in after the vote, which puts the call into their hands.
Reconciliation, a Test of Conduct
Before the conference, Dr Osae-Kwapong listed reconciling a party bruised by competitive primaries among the executives’ three major tasks. His interview gives that task practical steps. Leaders keep the shared goal in front of every member, treat rivals with dignity and handle legitimate grievances fairly.
None of these steps require a new structure or a new rule. They depend on how the executives behave in the weeks after a close contest, and members will see that behaviour for themselves. The party’s response to those who lost will show whether the call to dissolve camps turns into practice.
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