Former Member of Parliament for Subin, Mr Eugene Boakye Antwi, has expressed confidence in his chances of becoming the next General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of the 2028 General Elections.
Speaking to the media in the early hours of today’s National Delegates Conference of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Kumasi, where 7,163 delegates are expected to elect national executives of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition, Mr Boakye Antwi said the location of the conference gave him additional confidence.
He pointed out that Amakom, where the conference was being held, formed part of his constituency.
“I am going to host and win,” he told the media.
According to him, his message to delegates had resonated well with them after he had engaged them across the country.
“The message is loud and clear that I am hosting it and I am winning it. I have met all the delegates and my message has resonated well with them,” he said.
He said there was a growing call for change in the affairs of the party and that delegates saw him as a “game changer” ahead of the 2028 elections.
“If there is a clarion call for a change in the affairs of the party, they see me as a game changer in elections 2028. We want to ensure that we win a majority of our parliamentary seats and make His Excellency Mahamudu Bawumia the surest bet to lead Ghana,” Mr Boakye Antwi said in an interview at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.
Failure of leadership
According to him, the NPP had never rewarded failure, mediocrity or incompetence, arguing that the party’s defeat in the 2024 elections was a clear case of failure in leadership, communication and organisation.
“The NPP has never rewarded failure, mediocrity and incompetence. What happened in 2024 is a clear case of failure of leadership, communication and organisation, and a clear case of incompetence. You cannot take this abysmal record anywhere and be retained. That is it,” he said.
Mr Boakye Antwi said that was the message he and his team had been communicating to party delegates.
He also pointed to what he described as a historical pattern in the NPP, arguing that, with the exception of the late Professor Adu Boahen, the party’s presidential candidates had generally been retained, while national executives were changed.
“The history of this party is such that the national officers are always voted out; we repeat the presidential candidate twice. J.A. Kufuor went twice and won the elections for us. Akufo-Addo went three times and won the elections for us, but all along, the national executives have changed,” he said.
Change in leadership
Using the party’s history to support his argument, the NPP General Secretary hopeful said former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led the party when Peter Mac Manu was National Chairman and Kwadwo Ohene Ntow was General Secretary.
He said that by 2012, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey and Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, had taken over the leadership, while in 2016, the party had new national executives led by Freddie Blay and John Boadu.
“So every single time that a presidential candidate has won, national officers have been changed. We do not want to lose the general elections,” Mr Boakye Antwi said.
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