2028 NPP Presidential aspirant Dr Bryan Acheampong has stirred controversy and anger following comments he made, which have been deemed tribalistic and divisive, in a meeting with 2024 NPP parliamentary candidates who did not win their seats.
Dr Acheampong hosted the defeated parliamentary candidates at his Rock City Hotel in Mpraeso earlier today, but the meeting ended with attendees expressing disappointment over what they described as tribal bigotry by the former Agriculture Minister.
The Abetifi MP, making a case for NPP delegates to elect him as the party’s 2028 flagbearer, urged delegates to reject former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
His reason was that Dr Bawumia is Mamprusi, and Kusasis will not vote for the NPP due to the age-long conflict between the two tribes.
Dr Acheampong cited the conflict as a factor which contributed to the NPP’s loss in the presidential and parliamentary seats in the area.
Dr Acheampong stated that “Because the conflict is between these two people and we brought one of them as our candidate, it made us lose seats in the 2024 election. We cannot wait for this situation to be resolved and stay in opposition because the suspicion will not go away,” Dr Bryan Acheampong told the gathering.
However, several attendees appeared visibly uncomfortable by the comment and murmured in disapproval as Dr Acheampong spoke.
One of them, the NPP’s 2024 Ayawaso East parliamentary candidate, Zak Rahman, rejected Dr Acheampong’s attempt to use tribal arguments to blame Dr Bawumia for the party’s defeat in both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Rahman argued that the NPP suffered widespread defeat across the country, including in the parliamentary election, in which the NPP lost about 50 seats, including some of its traditional strongholds, adding that Dr. Bawumia could not be blamed because of his tribe.
Zak Rahman cited demographics of the constituency, explaining that data from the 2024 election results suggested that even in polling stations in areas like 37, Kanda, and Asylum Down, which are traditional NPP strongholds, numbers there declined due to voter apathy amongst NPP supporters, as was the case in NPP strongholds.
He added that it would be wrong to blame Dr Bawumia for the NPP’s presidential and parliamentary defeats due to his tribe and called for the party to rather “unite and come together” for victory.
Meanwhile, a number of the 2024 candidates who attended the meeting have expressed disappointment in Dr Acheampong for advancing what they said was a divisive tribal campaign.
“It is quite unfortunate, and I was very disturbed and disappointed by such tribal and divisive comments. Many of my colleagues seated close to me also expressed disapproval,” one of the attendees said.
He added: “I have a good relationship with Bryan Acheampong, but I know what is good for the party and which candidate can unite us for the NPP and give us victory. I am very disappointed in Bryan for such unfounded tribal comments, which only divide and weaken the NPP.”
Another, from the Western Region, questioned the logic in Dr Bryan Acheampong’s comments and asked whether it was the Mamprusi-Kusasi war which caused the NPP to lose parliamentary seats in his region and other regions across the country.
“Some of our candidates ought to treat us with respect when they invite us,” he said.
“We went into an election and lost about 50 parliamentary seats across the country, not only in the Upper East. If you go back to 2020, we lost close to 90 seats, and you invite us and start blaming Bawumia. How many seats did we have in Upper East, and how many did we lose? There is no logic in Bryan’s comments, and I believe it is only influenced by tribal hatred, which is shocking coming from someone who wants to lead the party.”
Another expressed surprise at why Bryan Acheampong and other hopefuls in the NPP presidential race are making tribe and religion a central theme in their campaign messages.
“Our party is already suffering from tribal and religious labelling, and I would have wished that leaders seeking to lead us would have rather shown us some substance in their messaging. Inviting us all the way here to tell us we should not vote for a particular candidate because he belongs to this or that tribe is the lowest anybody can go. I am upset and so are many of my colleagues here,” one parliamentary candidate from the Ashanti Region said.
Meanwhile, a number of NPP supporters have condemned Bryan Acheampong for the comments on social media reactions.
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