NPP’s future depends on grassroots renewal – NAPO urges party to rebuild for 2028

The 2024 New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has urged the party’s leadership to reconnect with its grassroots as it works to rebuild and strengthen the party ahead of the 2028 general elections.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, Dr. Opoku Prempeh said the NPP could not depend solely on the political foundation built by previous generations but must deliberately renew and strengthen its tradition.

“Every generation receives both an inheritance and an assignment,” he stated.

He said the current generation of NPP members has a responsibility to build on the foundations laid by its predecessors rather than regard the party’s political inheritance as an entitlement.

According to him, the party’s long-term survival and electoral fortunes will depend on rebuilding constituency structures, nurturing a new generation of organisers and creating opportunities for younger members to take up leadership roles.

He therefore called for stronger constituency structures, renewed grassroots engagement and greater participation of young people in the party’s affairs.

Dr. Opoku Prempeh has also challenged the Ashanti Region to look beyond its traditional reputation as the NPP’s electoral stronghold and play a broader role in shaping the party’s future.

He said the region’s contribution to the NPP should not be measured only by the votes it delivers during elections.

“Today, as Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia leads our party into its next chapter, Ashanti Region must ask not only what it has contributed to the NPP, but what it is prepared to contribute to its future,” Napo stressed.

He cautioned against reducing the relationship between the NPP and Ashanti Region to the description of the region as the party’s “World Bank”.

“That is why I sometimes hesitate when Kumasi and Ashanti Region are described simply as the NPP’s World Bank,” he said. “Our relationship with this tradition is older and deeper than votes.”

According to Dr. Opoku Prempeh, Kumasi and the Ashanti Region have historically provided the NPP tradition with organisers, thinkers, activists, parliamentarians and leaders, particularly during difficult periods.

He urged the region to preserve and renew that tradition by helping to develop the next generation of organisers and political leaders.

The comments come after the NPP’s National Executive Elections, which form part of a broader internal reorganisation aimed at positioning the party for the 2028 general elections after its exit from government in December 2024.

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as NAPO, served as Minister for Energy from 2021 to 2024 and was the NPP’s running mate in the 2024 general elections.