A presidential candidate hopeful of the New Patriotic Party, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, has described himself as the most viable option to unite the party ahead of the 2028 elections, insisting that deep internal divisions within the NPP can only be healed through restraint, respect and even-handed leadership.
Speaking during a question and answer session at the KAA for President 2028 Policy Day, Kwabena Agyepong said his calm campaign approach and long service within the party place him in a unique position to reconcile warring factions.
“I consider myself the most viable option for the party,” he said.
“All over the country, people have given me a lot of credit the way I have campaigned without having any caustic words for my colleagues,” he noted.
Responding to a question from Emmanuel Pacome Damalie of Graphic Communications on how he would bring together party members who are at loggerheads with executives, Mr Agyepong acknowledged that harsh language used by some actors has worsened tensions.
“There are certain words when you speak them, you cannot recall them. Therefore, it makes it very difficult to reconcile supporters and factions behind these sort of aspirants,” he noted.
He said party leaders had privately advised delegates that if they wanted someone capable of healing divisions, he was best suited for the task.
“I, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, will become the glue to hold the party together because of my record in this tradition,” he said, describing himself as “the very embodiment of unity and peace.”
Mr Agyepong pointed to his long history within the NPP, saying he had worked with all presidential candidates since 1992 and supported Dr Mahamudu Bawumia after losing the party’s 2024 primaries.
“I believe I am one who can unite the party,” he said, adding that the 2024 election results sent a clear warning signal.
“Over two million of our own people did not turn out to vote,” he said.
“The Ghanaian people are looking for a new dimension, a departure from the status quo.”
Metro TV’s Nana Kwesi Kwetia later pressed the former General Secretary on what he believed was the root cause of the party’s persistent internal wranglings.
Mr Agyepong traced the problem to long-standing grievances and a perceived lack of fairness in how the party has been run.
“This didn’t start today,” he said. “There has been some deep-seated divisions in the party. That is something we cannot run away from.”
He argued that unity would only return if party members placed the collective interest of the NPP above individual ambitions.
“At the end of the day, it is the elephant that matters. It is the party that should be supreme, not individuals in the party,” he said, reminding supporters that leaders come and go but the party endures.
Kwabena Agyei Agyepong told delegates that the upcoming January 31 internal election is about more than choosing a flagbearer.
“This election is not just about electing a leader of the party. It is about the battle for the soul of this tradition,” he said.
He called for a return to what he described as the party’s foundational values of service, sacrifice and selflessness, while warning against sycophancy and unchecked hero worship in Ghanaian politics.
“Sycophancy and hero-worship has become a bit of an enterprise and a business in Ghana today,” he said. “There should be accountability.”
Mr Agyepong said Ghana needed a new political culture where leaders could be criticised objectively without insults, and expressed confidence that delegates would recognise his years of service.
“Our party always believes in hard work, long, dedicated, selfless service,” he said. “I believe I have done that for this party.”
