The race to succeed Stephen Ayesu Ntim as National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is gathering momentum, with four prominent party figures — John Boadu, Boakye Kyerematen Agyarko, Paul Awentami Afoko and Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi — emerging as major contenders.
The contest is more than a battle for one of the NPP’s most influential positions.
It comes at a defining moment for the party, which is in opposition following its defeat in the 2024 general elections and is seeking to rebuild its structures, restore unity and prepare for another electoral battle in 2028.
The eventual winner will inherit the responsibility of organising the party at the grassroots, managing internal cohesion and helping build the political machinery required to support the NPP’s flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, in the next general election.
Stephen Ntim himself arrived at the chairmanship after a remarkable journey. He contested the position five times before finally winning in 2022, polling 4,014 votes. Before becoming Chairman, he served as the party’s First Vice-Chairman between 2001 and 2005.
Now, four political personalities with distinctly different records are positioning themselves to take over.
John Boadu – The party organiser
For John Boadu, the argument is built largely around experience and institutional knowledge.
Mr Boadu is one of the NPP’s longest-serving national officers. His political journey within the party has taken him from polling-station chairman and constituency secretary to National Youth Organiser, National Organiser, Acting General Secretary and, eventually, substantive General Secretary.
He joined the party’s Danquah-Busia tradition in the early 1990s and has spent more than three decades working within its structures.
His national executive experience is particularly extensive.
He served as National Organiser between 2014 and 2018 and became Acting General Secretary in 2015 following the suspension of then-General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong. He subsequently won the substantive General Secretary position in 2018.
His bid for the chairmanship is therefore being presented as a continuation of a long career in party organisation.
Mr Boadu has argued that the NPP needs tested and experienced leadership to rebuild after its 2024 defeat. He says the party has lost touch with important constituencies, including the youth, business community, middle class, academia, clergy and other stakeholders.
He has also taken his campaign directly to the grassroots. In July, he announced a nationwide engagement tour to meet regional and constituency executives, party wings and other stakeholders as part of his efforts to reconnect the party and prepare it for 2028.
His biggest selling point is therefore straightforward: experience in virtually every layer of the NPP’s organisational structure.
Boakye Agyarko – The strategist and reformer
Former Energy Minister and former NPP presidential aspirant Boakye Kyerematen Agyarko offers a different proposition.
Agyarko is a veteran politician whose campaign has centred on rebuilding, restructuring and rebranding the NPP.
He formally declared his intention to contest the National Chairmanship in September 2025 after consultations with family members, associates and party supporters.
His campaign has since developed a strong grassroots component.
Agyarko has travelled across the regions engaging constituency executives, party elders, patrons, communicators and grassroots activists. His message has consistently revolved around reconciliation, discipline, welfare and strengthening the party’s organisational machinery.
He has argued that the NPP had a strong presidential candidate in 2024 but a party structure that was not sufficiently robust to deliver victory. His stated mission is to rebuild the organisation so that Dr Bawumia can lead the party to victory in 2028.
His proposed reforms include improving the welfare of party executives, strengthening resource mobilisation and distribution, upgrading party infrastructure and establishing a more effective national, regional and constituency-level organisational structure.
Agyarko has also placed considerable emphasis on communications, arguing that the party needs a coordinated communications structure running from the polling-station level through to the national executive.
His campaign has attracted the backing of notable party figures. He has appointed former First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu, popularly known as Joe Wise, as Senior Campaign Adviser and former Interior Minister Henry Quartey as Campaign Manager.
For Agyarko, the central question is not simply who should chair the NPP, but what kind of organisation the party must become to win again.
Paul Afoko – The former Chairman seeking a second coming
Perhaps the most intriguing candidate is Paul Afoko, because he is not seeking the position for the first time.
Mr Afoko became NPP National Chairman in April 2014 after defeating Stephen Ntim and other contenders at the party’s Tamale congress. He became the first person of northern Ghanaian extraction to occupy the position.
His tenure, however, was short-lived and became one of the most turbulent chapters in the party’s recent history.
He was indefinitely suspended in 2015 amid deep internal disagreements and allegations that he had acted against the interests of the party’s then-flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo. Afoko disputed the circumstances surrounding his suspension.
Yet his supporters point to what they regard as important institutional reforms during his period in office.
Afoko has recalled his efforts to strengthen constituency structures, including providing financial support to constituencies to establish and maintain bank accounts. He has also pointed to the organisation of parliamentary primaries and what he describes as transparent and inclusive internal elections.
In July 2026, he formally announced his return to the chairmanship contest, calling on aggrieved and excluded party members to return and outlining a “3Rs” agenda — Reunite, Rebuild and Recapture Power.
Importantly, the NPP National Council in June dismissed a petition seeking to prevent Afoko from contesting the upcoming chairmanship election, affirming his eligibility to participate.
His campaign therefore carries both experience and history.
The central question for delegates will be whether Afoko’s return represents an opportunity for reconciliation and institutional renewal or a reopening of old wounds.
Chairman Wontumi – The Ashanti powerhouse
Then there is Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, perhaps the most grassroots-driven and regionally powerful of the four.
Wontumi has built his political reputation from the constituency level upwards.
Before becoming Ashanti Regional Chairman, he served as constituency chairman for Bosomtwe. He first won the Ashanti Regional Chairmanship in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018 and again in 2022. In the 2022 election, he secured 464 votes against 306 for his closest contender.
His long tenure in Ashanti, the NPP’s traditional political stronghold, has given him considerable influence within the party.
Wontumi argues that his record demonstrates loyalty, commitment and political mobilisation. He has openly told delegates that the chairmanship contest should be determined by commitment and competence and has expressed the ambition of becoming the first Ashanti Regional Chairman to rise to the national chairmanship.
His campaign has also assembled a formidable team, with former MP Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh as Campaign Chairman and former New Edubiase MP George Oduro as Campaign Manager, alongside several other senior party figures.
But Wontumi’s candidacy has encountered an unprecedented complication.
His recent conviction and prison sentence have thrown uncertainty over the future of his chairmanship campaign. His campaign manager has indicated that consultations with the NPP’s General Secretary and other stakeholders would be necessary before determining whether the campaign should continue.
That development introduces a major question into what had been shaping up as a highly competitive four-way contest.
Four candidates, four arguments
The emerging contest can therefore be viewed as a clash of political credentials.
John Boadu brings decades of organisational experience and intimate knowledge of the NPP’s national structures.
Boakye Agyarko presents himself as a strategist focused on rebuilding, restructuring and rebranding the party.
Paul Afoko offers the experience of a former National Chairman seeking what he describes as a second opportunity to reunite and rebuild the party.
Chairman Wontumi brings the strength of a powerful regional political base and a record of repeated victories in the Ashanti Regional Chairmanship contest.
But the delegates will ultimately have to answer a bigger question:
What kind of Chairman does the NPP need after the 2024 defeat?
The party’s next Chairman will have to manage more than an internal election victory. He will have to reconcile factions, motivate grassroots activists, strengthen constituency structures, restore confidence among supporters and work with the national leadership to build a credible platform for the 2028 elections.
The contest to replace Stephen Ntim is therefore not simply about who gets the chairmanship.
It is about who can organise a wounded political party, unite its competing interests and help transform it into an election-winning machine again.
With John Boadu, Boakye Agyarko, Paul Afoko and Chairman Wontumi bringing such different political histories to the table, the NPP’s next chairmanship election could become one of the party’s most consequential internal contests in years.
