Politics

Bawumia will become President before any other NPP member – Wontumi

Chairman Wontumi, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, insists Bawumia must be supported first.

Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has declared that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will become president before any other NPP member. He said party members and aspirants must recognize Bawumia’s precedence in the NPP’s path to power.

Chairman Wontumi, speaking to delegates in Atwuma in the Ashanti Region, emphasized that Bawumia will lead as president on the NPP ticket before others get the opportunity. He compared the situation to global politics, drawing parallels with how U.S. leaders like Joe Biden and Barack Obama cleared paths for one another.

According to him, just as Biden’s political journey was linked to Obama’s presidency, the NPP must rally behind Bawumia first, before considering other aspirants. He explained that had Alan Kyerematen fully supported Nana Akufo-Addo in 2008, Alan would likely have been next in line for the presidency. Instead, he noted, the presidency has consistently eluded him.

“Alan is a fine gentleman, but the presidency has eluded him. We are left with only 9%. Therefore, if we support Bawumia, he can make it. Then your preferred candidate can take over when he is done with his term,” Wontumi told delegates. He further stressed that if the NPP had fully backed Bawumia in the 2024 elections, his first term would already have been running by now.

Dr. Bawumia, who lost to President John Dramani Mahama in the December 2024 polls as the NPP’s flagbearer, has staged a comeback by declaring his intention to lead the party into the 2025 general elections. He is among five prominent aspirants vying for the party’s ticket for the 2028 elections.

The aspirants include Kennedy Agyapong, Kwabena Agyapong, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, and Dr. Bryan Acheampong, alongside Bawumia himself. However, Wontumi insists that all must first rally behind the former Vice President to wrestle power from the NDC before pursuing their presidential ambitions.

Meanwhile, the NPP has set January 31, 2026, as the date for its presidential primaries. Delegates will line up to cast secret ballots to elect one of the five aspirants as the party’s next flagbearer.