Polling data suggests the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s biggest unity challenge after its flagbearer contest is not at the base of the party but at the top, where unresolved tensions among campaign leaders could shape its road to 2028.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, pollster and Executive Director of Global Info Analytics, Mussa Dankwa, said the party’s grassroots remain largely united and hopeful, even as concerns linger about divisions among senior campaign actors.
“The polling data shows that about 88% of NPP delegates are hopeful that there will be unity in the party,” he said, stressing that “the grassroots, the problem is not them.”
According to Dankwa, the real risk lies higher up the party structure.
“The problem will be at the top level of the campaigns,” he said, warning that unresolved disagreements among leading figures could undermine efforts to consolidate support.
He argued that once those differences are addressed, the party’s base would fall in line.
“Once we are able to reconcile them, I don’t think there’ll be a problem at the bottom,” he said.
Dankwa said the next phase of the party’s rebuilding effort must focus on clarity and cooperation among key political actors who contested the flagbearer race.
He pointed to the need for visible reconciliation and defined roles going forward.
“Now, moving forward, how do you do that?” he asked, before raising questions about expectations within the party.
“What role does Ken Agyapong want to play going forward? What role does Bryan want to play in the campaign going forward?”
He said those decisions cannot be left ambiguous, insisting that unity must be elevated above individual ambition.
“They must be seen to have put a sense of unity above everything else,” he said.
Mussa Dankwa warned that the stakes are too high for internal fractures.
“For where NPP is now, they don’t need any division in their ranks to really face the NDC going forward,” he said.
While expressing optimism, he acknowledged lingering tensions within parts of the party’s leadership structure.
“I believe, and I sincerely hope, that both camps would do that,” he said, referring to reconciliation efforts.
However, he added that internal signals suggest uneven sentiment across factions.
“What sometimes you get to feel is that as people around Ken’s team are a lot more bitter,” he said.
The comments come in the aftermath of the NPP’s flagbearer election, which saw Dr Mahamudu Bawumia declared winner by the Electoral Commission after securing 56.48 per cent of the total votes cast, earning him the party’s mandate to lead into the 2028 general elections.
His closest contender, former Assin Central Member of Parliament Kennedy Agyapong, placed second with 46,554 votes, representing 23.76 per cent.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com