Nobody can win an election for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as its flag bearer unless the party rallies behind him, according to Samuel Azu Crabbe, a former Second National Vice Chairman of the party.
Mr. Crabbe says the party needs to build trust and transfer it to whoever emerges as the flag bearer, so they can rally the citizenry to give them their votes.
According to him, until the party sets the right fundamentals to put them above their competitors, they won’t be able to regain power, regardless of who they elect as their presidential candidate.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues with Keminni Amanor on Sunday, August 31, 2025, the former national executive of the party cited the case of Alan Kyerematen, whom he describes as a strong candidate, but notes that Kyerematen couldn’t pull any strings after choosing to run independently without the party’s support.
“I like Alan. Alan decided that, he was really solid, decided that he would go and be independent. What happened? Without the party behind him, what was he?” he quizzed, admonishing the party to do away with the issue of whom they choose as a flag bearer first. “So, basically, I am saying that, first of all, let’s take that thing out.”
He was emphatic that: “It’s not the flag bearer who will come and win the election for us.”
“It’s when we build the thing and we have trust, we can transfer some of the trust to the flag bearer. However, you also need someone who is excitable because right now we are down,” he explained.
The NPP is set to organise its presidential primary on Saturday, January 31, 2026, to elect a flag bearer for the December 2028 general elections. This will be the first time the party will be electing its flag bearer before choosing parliamentary candidates and other executives at the grassroots level.
The development forms part of the amendments proposed by the nine-member committee established to investigate the party’s defeat in the December 2024 elections, which were approved through voting at the emergency congress held on Saturday, July 19, 2025.
NPP Presidential Primary: I’m the party’s best bet for 2028 – Bawumia
