Gideon Boamah blasts Kwabena Frimpong, insists morally, JFK must bow out

RE: Open letter to Sylvester Tetteh

Kwabena Frimpong is only protecting his position at Party Hqs but enfa…And Yes Morally, JFK must bow out

Dear Kwabena Frimpong, Former Deputy Protocol Director, NPP,

Your letter attempts to isolate Hon. Sylvester Tetteh’s loss in Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfrom as a personal failure and to deflect accountability. That is dishonest and contradicts the overwhelming electoral data from December 7, 2024. It is clear your defense and unwarranted attacks on Sly is to protect your position at the party headquarters and to avoid future accountability. For your information, the NPP did not lose one seat. The party suffered a systemic, nationwide collapse under the watch of General Secretary Justin Frimpong Kodua. To blame Hon. Sylvester Tetteh is to ignore 50+ lost seats, seven fallen cabinet ministers, and two million vanished votes. The numbers do not lie. Leadership must not either.

1. BORTIANOR-NGLESHIE WAS NOT LOST — IT WAS FORFEITED BY THE NPP BASE

The Claim: Sylvester Tetteh lost because of personal failings.
The Data: In 2020, he won a constituency that has historically swung between parties — to the extent that no party since its creation had ever retained it for a second term — and safeguarded it for the NPP with 42,806 votes (53.30%) against the NDC’s 37,502, under extremely difficult circumstances. By doing so, he set a record as the candidate whose intervention made the NPP the only party in history to win it in two consecutive elections.

Explanation: The NDC actually lost 29 votes between 2020 and 2024. They did not win Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfrom — the NPP base abandoned it. 14,918 NPP voters who turned out for Sylvester Tetteh in 2020 stayed home in 2024 due to apathy caused by leadership failure on the part of the General Secretary, who is vested with the mandate to ensure party cohesion and mobilization.

This was not unique. The same voter boycott buried political heavyweights, including Ursula Owusu-Ekuful in Ablekuma West and Henry Quartey in Ayawaso Central, among others. When the NDC does not gain votes and the NPP incumbent still loses, the problem is not the candidate. It is the party. And the health of the party is the General Secretary’s primary responsibility. Blaming Sylvester Tetteh for a loss driven by national apathy is like blaming a single soldier for a retreating army.

Critical failure: JFK never paid a single working visit to Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfrom in four years. He allowed internal disputes to fester. When a fabricated tape targeting the sitting MP was circulated by a polling station executive, constituency officers investigated and suspended the officer involved. It is indefensible that JFK, as General Secretary whose duty is to ensure party cohesion and stability, was either unaware of this easily verifiable fact or chose to weaponize this blatant falsehood, as he did against his predecessor. A General Secretary who amplifies lies instead of resolving them cannot complain about apathy. He encouraged it.

2. JFK WROTE THE RULES IN 2022 — THE 2024 RESULTS BROKE THEM

The Claim: Leadership should be judged by electoral growth.
The Context: In 2022, JFK argued that “experience is only valuable when it produces improved electoral outcomes” – specifically, wider margins and more parliamentary seats. He used that standard to oust his predecessor after the NPP fell from 169 to 137 seats.

Explanation: Standards are only credible if applied consistently. John Boadu handed over 137 seats and a presidential vote margin exceeding 500,000. JFK’s responsibility was to build on that foundation.

If 169 to 137 was deemed “failure” in 2022, then 137 to 87 is a political catastrophe. If a 500,000-vote lead was the minimum for legitimacy, then a 1.7-million-vote deficit is a mandate to resign. You cannot weaponize seat counts against JB in 2022 and then disregard them for yourself in 2024. That is not leadership. It is hypocrisy.

3. BY-ELECTIONS WERE THE WARNING JFK IGNORED

The Claim: The General Secretary was steering the party to victory.
The Data: Between 2022 and 2024, the NPP contested six (6) parliamentary by-elections. It won only Kumawu and Ejisu. It lost four (4), including Assin North and Akwatia, despite the advantage of incumbency.

Explanation: By-elections are the clearest mid-term test of a party’s machinery. They measure local organization, voter enthusiasm, and leadership appeal — all under the direct purview of the General Secretary. Incumbent governments typically win them. JFK lost 66% of them. Assin North was lost after a sitting NDC MP was removed. Akwatia was lost despite full deployment of government machinery and resources at the leadership’s disposal. These were flashing red lights. A General Secretary who loses four by-elections cannot credibly promise a general election victory. The December collapse was not a surprise. It was a pattern.

4. GREATER ACCRA: THE FALL OF THE UNTOUCHABLES

The Claim: Bortianor’s loss was isolated.
The Data: Accra saw a wipeout of NPP titans who had held seats for decades.

Explanation: JFK inherited fourteen (14) seats in Greater Accra from his predecessor, whom he accused of poor performance in 2020. By the end of 2024, those seats had suffered a historic decline from 14 to only 5 — a loss of nine (9) seats under his watch as General Secretary, representing 64.29%.

These seats, some of which were fortresses, include:
Ablekuma West, Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso West Wuogon, Okaikwei South, Ledzokuku, Dome Kwabenya, Ablekuma North, Okaikwei North, and Tema West.

When resourceful cabinet ministers with state machinery and name recognition, such as Ursula Owusu-Ekuful and Henry Quartey, lose seats held since 1996, the issue is not local campaigning. It is national brand toxicity. Voters were not rejecting individuals. They were rejecting the NPP under JFK’s administration. Sylvester Tetteh, a first-term MP and Deputy Minister, was swept away in the same tide that drowned cabinet heavyweights.

5. JFK’S BACKYARD — ASHANTI: WHEN THE WORLD BANK CLOSES ITS ACCOUNT

The Claim: The Ashanti base remained loyal.
The Data: The NPP lost 7 seats it won in 2020 and shed 33% of its popular vote in its stronghold.

Explanation: Ashanti is not just another region. It is the NPP’s electoral lifeline. In 2020, it delivered the margins that kept the party in government. In 2024, that lifeline frayed. Losing Adansi Asokwa, Adansi Akrofuom, Obuasi East, Ahafo Ano South East, Asante Akim North, Offinso South, and Manso Nkwanta is the strategic equivalent of the NDC losing seats of similar magnitude in its Volta Region stronghold. It signals base demoralization on a historic scale. If one cannot inspire confidence on home ground, where else can one?

6. THE CARNAGE IN TRADITIONAL NPP SEATS PROVES SYSTEMIC REJECTION

The Claim: Losses were due to weak candidates.
The Data: At least seven sitting ministers lost their seats.

Explanation: This was not random. It was national apathy and a vote of no confidence occasioned by a damaged brand, lack of strategic direction, and uninspiring leadership superintended by JFK as General Secretary. A few among the traditional seats — otherwise known as “untouchable” seats for the NPP — that were snatched for the first time in decades under JFK include:

1. Sekondi – Andrew Egyapa Mercer, Tourism. Lost.
2. Tarkwa-Nsuaem – George Mireku Duker, Deputy Lands. Lost.
3. Awutu Senya East – Hawa Koomson, Fisheries. Lost.
4. Hohoe – John Peter Amewu, Railways. NPP’s only Volta seat. Lost.
5. Nandom – Ambrose Dery, former Interior. Lost.
6. Assin Central – Held by Kennedy Agyapong for 24 years. Lost.
7. Dormaa Central – Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, former Health Minister. Lost.
8. Sunyani East – Held by Akwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh since 2008. Lost.

When ministers lose, it means the government itself is on the ballot. Voters were not splitting tickets. They were delivering a verdict on the party’s national leadership — the same leadership JFK coordinated. You cannot separate the General Secretary from a cabinet massacre. He ran the campaign. He owns the result.

The General Secretary’s core job is party organization: register members, energize volunteers, get out the vote. When two million of your own voters stay home, that is not the candidate’s fault. That is a structural failure at headquarters. JFK did not just lose an election. He lost the party.

7. THE FINAL VERDICT: BY HIS OWN WORDS, JFK FAILED

You wrote: “Leadership is not about noise; it is about results.” We agree. Here are JFK’s results:

1. Seats: 137 to 87. A 50-seat wipeout.
2. By-elections: 2 wins, 4 losses.
3. Presidency: 41.75% — worst performance since 1996.
4. Strongholds: 7 regions recorded zero NPP seats. Ashanti down 7 seats and 33% of the popular vote.
5. Cabinet: 7+ ministers defeated.

You ask on what basis Sylvester Tetteh seeks to lead. We ask Justin Kodua: On what basis does he remain? He set the standard. He campaigned on seat counts. He promised electoral growth. He delivered electoral ruin.

8. CONCLUSION: THE TSUNAMI STARTED AT THE TOP

Bortianor-Ngleshie was won in 2016 with 26,034 votes and in 2020 with 42,806. It was lost in 2024 with 27,888 — still higher than the winning 2016 figure. The difference was not Sylvester Tetteh. It was NPP voters who refused to participate because of apathy occasioned by the unattractiveness of the party under JFK’s leadership.

This was not arrogance. This was apathy. And apathy is cultivated by uninspiring leadership.

If anyone should “bow out morally,”it is the General Secretary who condemned a 32-seat drop in 2022, then presided over a 50-seat drop in 2024 — the man who lost four by-elections, never visited key constituencies, weaponized falsehoods, and delivered the worst defeat of the Fourth Republic.

Do not blame the captain of a sinking lifeboat when the admiral drilled holes in the ship.

The numbers are clear. The verdict is undeniable. The responsibility is JFK’s.

YOURS IN TRUTH,
GIDEON OSEI BOAMAH
NPP ACTIVIST