T
he former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Subin Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Hon. Eugene Boakye Antwi, has made a clarion call on all members, supporters, and sympathizers of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to remain resolute and maintain hope that the party will bounce back stronger into the 2028 general elections regardless of the unprecedented defeat in the 2024 elections. Hon Eugene Boakye Antwi made these comments, among others, yesterday, January 24, 2025 on the United Television (UTV) Show, ‘Mpu ne Mpu’, hosted by Yaa Konama.
Responding to a question posed by the host as to what factors led to the NPP’s 2024 electoral defeat against the background that the General Secretary has attributed the defeat to spiritual factors, Hon Eugene disagreed and maintained that elections are not determined by spirituality, but by science, data, and strategy. The former MP recounted a few factors he has consistently mentioned before and after the elections.
Regarding the election review committee as constituted by the NPP, Hon Eugene is of the opinion that, in spite of the colossal experience of the chair, Prof. Mike Ocquaye, he would have wished the party took advantage of other senior party members such as Hon. Dan Botwe, Hon. Joe Ghartey, Hon Samuel Atta Akyea, Hon O.B. Amoah, among others who are relatively younger and more active than the good old Professor. Nonetheless, Hon Eugene Boakye Antwi pleaded with the rank and file of the party to cooperate with the committee by having the courage to speak the truth before the committee. He again advised the committee to go down to the people in the constituencies and the communities to ensure a great outcome at the end of the process.
When asked to propose solutions and the way forward for the NPP, Hon Eugene Boakiye Antwi has the following to say, “the NPP must as a matter urgency REFLECT, REBUILD, and RECAPTURE power come 2028 general elections.”
The REFLECTION Process:
For Hon. Eugene Boakye Antwi, the NPP move to review the 2024 election is in line with the reflection process. He recounted the formation of similarly useful committees set up after previous elections including the one after 2008 election which committee he worked with. He again suggests that, beyond the self-introspection, there will be the need for professional research in the future to confirm the possible findings by the Prof. Ocquaye Committee.
The REBUILDING Process:
According Hon Eugene Boakye Antwi, there must be conscious effort to rebuild the NPP to regain its glorious status. To achieve this, the former MP suggests a total scrap of the delegates system and allow all card bearing members to vote at all levels in the party. This, in his opinion, will mitigate the levels of conflicts that hinder UNITY. He also proposed opportunity for former MP’s and government appointees to have voting rights in the internal elections to create a sense of belongingness. “As part of the rebuilding, the party must ensure tolerance for all including members who tend to air their views strongly.”
These among others he proposed.
The RECAPTURE Process:
Hon. Eugene Boakye Antwi maintains that the strategy to recapture power in 2028 elections cannot be made public. However, he mentioned that there will be massive rebranding in this sense.
According to the former MP, in the electoral history of the New Patriotic Party since the year 1996, the 2024 election results are the worst. A situation, in his view, calls for the removal of all National Executives of the NPP to make way for fresh and vibrant crop of executives to steer the affairs of the party to victory.
“We are talking about people who occupied positions in our party in power and taking us to opposition, leaving us with 88 MPs and 41% of the popular vote”. – He recounted.
Hon Eugene Boakye Antwi, who has been described by many as confident, truthful and courageous, is a former NPP-UK branch Secretary, former Member of Parliament for Subin for two consecutive terms and a former Deputy Minister for Works and Housing.
