Eric Kevin Elikem Kwame Kotoko, a member of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), has said the U-turn by the NPP leadership in the election of its executives will create cracks within the party.
He says the leadership adopted a supposed top-down approach in electing its executives, which was unprecedented in the political history of this country, only to turn around to use the bottom-up approach after electing Dr. Bawumia as flagbearer.
According to him, the approach was meant to skew the process for Dr. Bawumia to become flagbearer, making the executives being elected tilt towards the Bawumia camp.
“Again, it is not just a looming danger because it is going to bring a lot of factions within. Now, it appears those you elect at the base should be people who are more aligned with your flagbearer,” he said on the BigIssue segment on the NewDay morning show on Monday, August 17, 2026.
The Deputy Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission further explained that a leader, however, does not “need to have people necessarily belonging to or liking you before you work with them. That is what shows you’re a true leader.”
He cited the relationship between President John Dramani Mahama and Prof. Joshua Alabi and the role the latter played in Mahama’s campaign after they contested each other for the NDC flagbearer position.
However, Elikem noted that the top-down approach the party used to elect the flagbearer has created fragmentation within the base, where subsequent elections have had elected executives tagged as belonging to the camps of the respective flagbearer aspirants.
He reiterated that the intent behind the earlier decision was meant to rig the process for Dr. Bawumia.
“It meant that those who were saying this from the very beginning that they were deceiving us, they just wanted to twist our arms to elect Bawumia as the flagbearer, they were right after all.
“Because after electing the flagbearer, then you turn around and make a U-turn. What recommendations informed the decision to do that. Did the recommendation told you to deceive them?” he quizzed.
NPP regional elections
Delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) across the country voted to elect regional executives.
The elections, held on August 15, were keenly contested judging from the outcome.
Among the various positions contested, the most influential is the Regional Chairman position.
Here is the list of Regional Chairmen-elect based on provisional results declared by the Electoral Commission’s officials who supervised the elections:
1. Western Region – Ignatius Kwasi Africa
2. Savannah Region – Alhaji Iddrisu Sulemana
3. Bono Region – Kwame Baffoe Abronye
- Greater Accra Region – Bernard Okoe-Boye
- Ashanti Region – Odeneho Kwaku Appiah
- Eastern Region – Jeff Konadu Addo
- Central Region – Joseph Kobinah Esibu
- Western North Region – (To be conducted on 16th August, 2026)
- Ahafo Region – Robert Sarfo Mensah
- Northern Region – Mohammed Baatima Adam (Samba)
- North East Region – Alhaji Mohammed Fuseini
- Upper East Region – Elvis Awonekai Figo
- Upper West Region – Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman
- Volta Region – Makafui Kofi Woanya
- Oti Region – Dr Frank Yirenkyi
- Bono East Region – Ibrahim Bukari Baba
Tension at Western North NPP election as chairmanship results spark disagreement
