Former Minister of Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Dr. Bryan Acheampong, has called on members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to unite behind the party and its 2028 presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, warning that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to return to power.
He emphasized that NPP’s focus should remain on supporting Dr. Bawumia and preparing for the 2028 general election to ensure the main opposition party recaptures power after the presidential and parliamentary elections.
“Dr. Bawumia is now the candidate of all of us. He carries the mandate not only of those who voted for him, but of every member who voted for Ken, for me, and for the others who contested,” the former presidential aspirant reiterated.
In a statement issued on June 19, 2026, Dr. Acheampong urged party faithful to prioritize reconciliation and collective progress following the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 general election.
Addressing recent tensions involving former presidential aspirant and Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, Dr. Acheampong said he understood the disappointment that comes with losing a fiercely contested primary, having also contested in the party’s January presidential race.
“I speak to you today not as a bystander to our recent contest, but as one who stood in it,” he stated. “Like Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, I offered myself to our delegates in the January primary, and like him, I did not emerge the winner.”
According to Dr. Acheampong, the NPP’s most important task between now and the next general election is rebuilding trust, healing divisions, and presenting a united front to Ghanaians.
“Our party suffered a painful defeat in 2024. The single most important task before us between now and 2028 is to rebuild, to reunite, and to return to power,” he said. “Nothing—no grievance, no provocation, no personal quarrel—can be allowed to stand above that mission.”
He expressed concern over recent comments by Kennedy Agyapong and threats of action against the party and certain individuals, but acknowledged the significant contributions the former MP has made to the NPP over the years.
Describing Agyapong as “a son of this party,” Dr. Acheampong said his loyalty, resources and influence within the party cannot be questioned. He therefore appealed to him to channel his influence towards healing rather than further division.
The Abetifi MP also acknowledged that some supporters associated with various campaigns had directed disrespectful remarks and insults at Kennedy Agyapong during and after the primary contest.
“Many of us wished those individuals had been restrained and wished our elders had moved more swiftly to call them to order,” he noted.
However, Dr. Acheampong stressed that there was no evidence to suggest that Dr. Bawumia had sanctioned or encouraged any attacks against Kennedy Agyapong.
“There is no evidence that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia commissioned, directed or endorsed those attacks,” he said, adding that it would be unfair to hold the party’s flagbearer responsible for the actions of individuals pursuing personal grievances.
Calling for reconciliation on all sides, Dr. Acheampong urged both Kennedy Agyapong and those who may have offended him to seek peace without waiting for apologies from one another.
“My hope is simply that all of us, those who wounded Ken, and Ken himself, might find the grace to make peace, without anyone waiting for the other to move first,” he stated.
Dr. Acheampong concluded by appealing to supporters of both Kennedy Agyapong and himself to “lay down the weapons of internal warfare” and close ranks behind the NPP’s flagbearer.
“Unity is not weakness. Unity is how we win,” he declared.
