Who is telling the truth? Both Ken and Dr. Bawumia have held very high offices in this country – Kwame Jantuah

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is set to elect its flagbearer on 31st January 2026 ahead of the next general elections. The race among the five aspirants has become increasingly intense, particularly between the two leading contenders—former Member of Parliament Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and former Vice President and 2024 NPP flagbearer Mahamudu Bawumia.

The escalating tension within the campaign compelled the party’s national executives to convene all aspirants to sign a peace pact aimed at ensuring calm and unity before, during, and after the election.

Speaking on TV3’s The Big Issue, political commentator Kwame Jantuah shared his views on the developments within the party, noting that the internal conflicts pose a serious challenge to the NPP’s cohesion going into the crucial contest. If there is anything I do not understand about him, I would rather meet him privately, sit with him, and discuss it instead of bringing such matters into the public space.

Now, what exactly was Ken’s outburst about? Was it the issue of the “new wine”? And then there was the claim that Dr. Bawumia had said something inappropriate. Yet Dr. Bawumia’s camp insists he never made such comments at any point. So who is telling the truth?

The most important thing here is this: both Ken and Dr. Bawumia have held very high offices in this country. Are we to believe that they could not sit down and resolve these matters internally? Did it really have to come out the way it did? Are they in different parties? Are they in opposition to each other?

We have seen this before. The last press conference they held left many people asking what it was even about—it ended up being linked to the Foreign Minister. All of this could have been handled quietly, especially with just about 35 days to the election. This is not the time to rock the boat.

Given where the NPP currently stands electorally, the dwindling public confidence due to decisions taken while in government, and their numbers in Parliament, this kind of public disagreement is damaging. Even when there are internal disagreements, party leaders should not wash their dirty linen in public.

By Nana Boateng