Since 1992, Ghana has walked a remarkable democratic path—imperfect, sometimes noisy, occasionally bruising, but consistently hopeful.
Every four years, we renew a sacred covenant with ourselves through the ballot, choosing not just a party, but a person to embody the soul, intellect, discipline, and global image of our Republic.
That is why the question of who becomes a presidential candidate is never a mere internal party affair. It is a national concern.
A calm look at Ghana’s electoral history since the return to constitutional rule tells a clear, almost stubborn story. From 1992 to 2024, power has alternated only between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The Convention People’s Party (CPP), People’s National Convention (PNC), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), and several independent-minded patriots have all tried, sometimes with admirable passion, sometimes with historic symbolism but never with sufficient nationwide traction to break the duopoly. George Hagan, Edward Mahama, Paa Kwesi Nduom, Hassan Ayariga, Jacob Osei Yeboah and others added colour and ideas to the democratic marketplace, but the trajectory has not changed. And it is not about to change anytime soon.
Like it or not, Ghana’s next president will emerge from either the NDC or the NPP.
That reality places an extraordinary burden on the shoulders of a relatively small group of people: party delegates.
These men and women are not merely voting for a party leader; they are, in effect, pre-selecting a potential President of the Republic of Ghana. History will not judge them by the size of the envelope they received, the television set delivered at night, or the mobile phone slipped into their hands. History will judge them by the consequences of their choice.
We have been here before. Allegations, sometimes proven, sometimes whispered too loudly to ignore, have trailed delegate conferences across party lines.
Stories of votes traded for cash, for gadgets, for fleeting comforts. Worse, delegates occasionally looked away from glaring character flaws: intemperate language, reckless public conduct, unresolved legal clouds, or an inability to distinguish private ambition from public responsibility.
These are not small matters. They are the very definition of unpresidential and unparliamentary conduct.
No delegate, no matter how frustrated or financially stretched, has the moral right to exchange the future of over 30 million Ghanaians for pleasures that will not last longer than a cock having sex with a hen.
The shame, the damage, and the regret last far longer.
As the New Patriotic Party (NPP) feverishly prepares to elect its flagbearer for the 2028 presidential elections, its delegates must pause and breathe.
This is not just about winning back power. It is about deserving power. Love of party is important, but love of country must come first. The NPP has always presented itself as a party of ideas, discipline, and competence. To abandon those values at the altar of convenience or internal vendettas would be a historic betrayal.
Delegates must ask themselves hard questions. What happens if you elect someone whose past statements require constant public relations gymnastics, endless explanations of “what he really meant to say”?
What if your opponents roll out recordings of your presidential candidate questioning why he even belongs to your party, dismissing its members as fools? Can you imagine the damage control? The money? The time? The erosion of trust?
What if the candidate you chose walks into the campaign season carrying unresolved legal baggage or worse, convictions pronounced by competent courts of law? How do you, with a straight face, convince the Ghanaian voter that everything is baseless when the facts say otherwise?
How do you defend someone whose record suggests an appetite to privately appropriate what belongs to the state?
Is it wisdom to vote for someone simply because he satisfied your parochial desires with cash or gifts? Is it leadership to reward ambition driven mainly by personal grievance, perhaps because one was overlooked in a previous running mate calculation, rather than by vision, competence, and national appeal?
African philosophy teaches us: “I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am.” Leadership is communal. A bad choice injures all of us, today and tomorrow.
History, again, offers lessons. Apart from Jerry John Rawlings and President John Mahama, who won presidential elections on their first attempts, nearly every other successful candidate had to contest two or even three times before gaining sufficient national confidence. Even President Mahama himself had to make two additional attempts before earning a second opportunity at the presidency.
Growth, consistency, learning, and credibility matter. Politics is not a sprint; it is a long-distance race of trust.
It is against this backdrop that one must speak plainly. Within the New Patriotic Party today, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia stands out as the most credible, visible, and viable candidate. His record in public service, national exposure, international confidence, intellectual depth, and relative discipline in public conduct distinguish him in a field where Ghana truly deserves better.
Delegates of the NPP must remember: the moment you vote, your choice stops being merely an internal party matter. It becomes a national gamble. If Ghana must be presented with a potential president from your party, then Ghana deserves your very best judgment.
And that judgment, guided by history, reason, and love of country, points unmistakably to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
By: Abdul Hayi Moomen
