What was officially billed as the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2025 National Delegate Conference has come under intense criticism from party members and political observers who say the event was stage-managed to launch Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s presidential campaign.
According to multiple sources within the party, the conference, held at the Accra Sports Stadium, deviated sharply from its original purpose and instead became a political theatre carefully choreographed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) to project Dr. Bawumia as the presumptive flagbearer for the 2028 elections.
A Scripted Coronation, Not a Conference
“The just-ended National Delegate Conference was not a conference properly so called,” said one senior party member who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It was a full-blown outdooring of Bawumia’s presidential ambitions. Everything from the crowd arrangement to the stadium programming was engineered to present him as the party’s chosen one.”
Eyewitness accounts and video footage from the venue reveal that over 5,000 non-delegates, allegedly bused in by pro-Bawumia operatives were seated across the stands to swell the numbers and create an atmosphere of mass approval. This, critics argue, was a deliberate strategy to give the false impression of broad-based grassroots support.
Waving Tour Raises Eyebrows
One of the most contentious moments of the conference came immediately after Dr. Bawumia’s address, when he and his wife walked around the stadium tracks waving to the crowd in what many described as a presidential-style victory lap.
Party insiders and political analysts have questioned the appropriateness of the gesture, asking: “In what capacity was Bawumia speaking as former Vice President or as a flagbearer aspirant?”
“No other potential aspirant was afforded such a platform or such optics,” one party delegate fumed. “That walk was not neutral; it was a bold and symbolic campaign act.”
Muted Voices, Archived Videos
The program’s selective platforming of voices also drew condemnation. Former President John Agyekum Kufuor and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo were notably absent from the live proceedings, their remarks played instead through outdated video recordings. Many wondered why live digital appearances via Zoom or Google Meet were not facilitated for these founding pillars of the party.
“Was it a technological oversight, or a strategic silencing?” one observer queried. “These are party elders who should have been central to such a national event.”
Grassroots Discontent Boils Over
For many in the party’s base, the events of the day confirm long-held suspicions, that the NEC is engineering an internal coup to impose Dr. Bawumia on the party against the popular will.
“They did it in 2024, and now they want to do it again in 2028,” one grassroots organizer from the Ashanti Region told this reporter. “But this time, we will resist. This is about the future of our party and the voice of the people.”
Calls for Accountability and Reform
The fallout from the conference has triggered calls for immediate reform within the NEC and greater transparency in the party’s internal processes.
Political watchers warn that if the NPP leadership fails to address the growing perception of bias and manipulation, it risks alienating its support base and fracturing the party ahead of the 2028 contest.
As tensions simmer, all eyes will be on how the party hierarchy responds in the coming days. Will they listen to the growing chorus of dissent, or will they double down on what many are now calling the great Bawumia imposition?
Either way, the battle lines within the NPP have been redraw, and the grassroots are not retreating.
