The Vice Chairman of the 2024 Bawumia Campaign Team, Nana Akomea, has cautioned that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) risks weakening its electoral chances in 2028 if ongoing divisions among supporters of flagbearer aspirants are not resolved.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM on Thursday, July 17, 2025, Mr Akomea said tensions between rival factions within the party continue to undermine efforts to present a united front.

He noted that even the party’s post-election thank-you tour, intended to reinforce unity, had been disrupted by intra-party competition.

“This year, we took the unusual step of including all former contenders, including Kennedy Agyapong, in the thank-you tour,” he said. “It was meant to show party unity, but unfortunately, it turned into a contest of influence at every stop.”

According to Mr Akomea, instances of choreographed support for individual contenders and conflicting messages around local candidates distracted from the tour’s purpose and exposed deeper cracks in the party.

“If we don’t rein in these rival camps, we are going to lose credibility among Ghanaians. And that has serious implications for our chances in 2028,” he warned.

He cited an incident in Bantama in the Ashanti Region, where tensions between groups nearly escalated into violence, forcing party leaders to reconsider the structure of the tour.

Mr Akomea also referred to the recent detention of Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi. He suggested that internal rivalries may have delayed efforts to secure his bail.

“There’s a belief that one flagbearer aspirant’s attempt to secure bail was delayed to allow another aspirant to take the credit,” he claimed. “If that’s even half true, then it shows how far the division has gone.”

The NPP’s thank-you tour was postponed this year to allow the party’s internal review committee to complete its report on the 2024 election defeat.

Mr Akomea said the inclusion of all former flagbearer aspirants was meant to demonstrate unity at the top of the party.

In his view, though, the initiative failed to deliver the intended message. “The intention was noble, but the conduct on the ground tells us that unity cannot just be performed, it must be built through discipline and shared purpose,” he said.

Mr Akomea urged party leadership to improve internal coordination and reduce personalised campaigning, which he believes distracts from the NPP’s broader appeal and risks alienating undecided voters.

“We have to ask ourselves: what does the Ghanaian voter see when they look at us now? Unity, or chaos?” he asked.

He contrasted the NPP’s situation with the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which is also conducting its thank-you engagements. According to him, the NDC has so far avoided the type of infighting playing out in the NPP.

“You didn’t hear about this kind of jostling in the NDC,” he said. “But with us, every action is seen through the lens of who supports whom.”