The campaign of former Energy Minister Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko has rejected claims of a rift between the NPP chairmanship candidate and the party’s flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, ahead of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) national chairmanship election.
Mr Agyarko is contesting the NPP national chairmanship election scheduled for October 3, 2026, and his campaign says he has no intention of interfering with Dr Bawumia’s responsibilities as the party’s flagbearer.
Instead, the Agyarko sampaign said it would focus on strengthening the NPP’s organisational structures, rebuilding trust and uniting the different factions within the party ahead of the 2028 general election.
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In a statement issued on Sunday, August 30, the campaign identified two narratives surrounding the NPP chairmanship race that it described as misleading.
The first was an attempt to portray collective NPP achievements as the personal accomplishments of individual candidates, while the second was the suggestion that Mr Agyarko is at odds with Dr Bawumia.
The campaign said Mr Agyarko had instructed his team not to attack any of the other candidates contesting the NPP national chairmanship.
It stressed that all the contenders had contributed to the development of the party and would remain important to the NPP after the October 3 election.
“We will not respond with attacks on any fellow party member,” the campaign said.
It explained that its objective is to correct what it considers inaccurate claims while allowing delegates to make an informed decision about who should lead the party as national chairman.
Record of NPP service
The campaign highlighted Mr Agyarko’s longstanding association with the NPP, dating back to 1992 when he became a founding member of the party.
It said he subsequently chaired the Danquah-Busia Club of North America and served as the NPP’s North America Coordinator, where he helped establish and strengthen the party’s structures among Ghanaians in the diaspora during its years in opposition.
Between 1993 and 1998, Mr Agyarko also wrote the Letter from America column for The Statesman newspaper.
The campaign said he performed the role at a time when there was little or no political reward for such involvement.
Ahead of the 2012 general election, Mr Agyarko served as the NPP’s National Campaign Manager. According to his campaign, he played an important role in the party’s organisational and policy restructuring following its defeat in the 2008 election.
He later served as Policy Adviser to the party’s presidential candidate ahead of the 2016 general election.
Beyond politics, the campaign pointed to Mr Agyarko’s more than two decades of experience at the Bank of New York, where he rose to become Vice President and Head of Global Investment Management.
He subsequently returned to Ghana and served as Minister for Energy.
The Agyarko campaign also cited his contribution to the development of the NPP’s diaspora structures, particularly the Constituency Adoption arrangement introduced during the 2012 campaign.
According to the campaign, the initiative helped channel support from NPP members in the diaspora into organised assistance for constituencies and continued beyond the campaign in which it was introduced.
However, the campaign stressed that these contributions should not be interpreted as Mr Agyarko claiming personal ownership of the NPP’s achievements.
The campaign criticised what it described as “convenient revisionism” by some contestants in the NPP chairmanship election, accusing them of attempting to present collective party successes as individual accomplishments.
It maintained that the NPP’s electoral victories were achieved through the collective efforts of the party’s grassroots, members and supporters.
“The NPP’s victories belong to the party, to its grassroots, and to the thousands who worked for them,” the campaign said.
It said Mr Agyarko’s record should therefore be viewed as a record of service to the party rather than an attempt to claim credit for achievements secured collectively.
Rift with Bawumia
The campaign also sought to dispel suggestions that Mr Agyarko would undermine or interfere with Dr Bawumia’s work as NPP flagbearer if elected national chairman.
According to the statement, Mr Agyarko has consistently maintained that he would respect the flagbearer’s responsibilities.
The Agyarko campaign said the roles of the flagbearer and national chairman are clearly defined, with the flagbearer responsible for leading the party’s campaign and communicating its political message, while the national chairman oversees the organisational structures required to support that campaign.
It further stated that Mr Agyarko has Dr Bawumia’s “full support”.
The campaign argued that Mr Agyarko is not seeking the national chairmanship as a stepping stone to another political position or positioning himself for a future election.
It said this would enable him to operate independently and serve as a neutral figure capable of reconciling the different traditions and interests within the NPP.
Party unity and reconciliation remain central to Mr Agyarko’s campaign for NPP national chairman, particularly following the party’s presidential primary in January.
The campaign noted that a significant number of delegates supported candidates other than Dr Bawumia during the primary and argued that these members must be fully brought behind the NPP flagbearer ahead of the 2028 general election.
“Reconciliation here is arithmetic, not sentiment,” the campaign said.
It argued that rebuilding unity requires a national chairman capable of bringing together competing factions and working with all sections of the party.
The campaign further contended that a chairman with “scores to settle” would be unable to effectively reunite the party and mobilise its entire support base behind Dr Bawumia.
It said Mr Agyarko’s experience, independence and longstanding service to the NPP position him to help rebuild trust, strengthen party structures and unite members ahead of the 2028 general election.