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Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng: NPP, How did we get here?
I woke up this morning with a barrage of calls and messages from friends, acquaintances and many NPP faithful. These distress calls have just one purpose; to complain about an attack by some thugs who have now been identified as members of the NPP on a media outlet, UTV.
This attack I understand was carried out on a live program which was airing late in the night because these individuals find the content of the program unfavorable to the NPP.
After watching various footage of the events, and reading the responses from the Ministry of Information and the party, there is only one question that has been lingering in my mind; NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
When President Kufuor was campaigning to win the first elections for NPP in the 2000 polls, a major message that sunk not only among Ghanaians but also the world was how the NPP represented hope to ensure the protection of the rule of law, freedom of the press and respect for human rights.
Frimpong Boateng further observed that Ghana is experiencing a form of governance characterized by the control of the media not through violence but through bribery and intimidation.
“There are people who claim to be stalwarts of the party; they have neither political appointments nor positions in the party structure. They appear to wield so much power that one of them is described as ‘de facto Prime Minister’ of the country. Apparently, they have what it takes to get their friends and favourites appointed to prominent and powerful positions in society. At the same time, they have the tendency to disrespect and make life difficult for Ghanaians. This is unlike the NPP we know. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?”
“We are being served with a variation of “family, friends, and concubines government”, and control of the press not through violence but through bribery and intimidation. We are witnessing the weaponization of state institutions to silence transformative voices while allowing patronized corruption to flourish. Instead of development in freedom, we are witnessing unprecedented intimidation, economic retrogression, and suffering in silence. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?”
“To make matters worse, the ‘NPP establishment’ is busy promoting a presidential candidate, who to my mind is the most vulnerable and has more baggage than all the aspirants. It is like shopping for a problem when they already have an answer.”
This message was anchored on the ideology of the party which resonated with people like me to continue to be part of the party.
President Kufuor took various steps to ensure the media was given the safest environment to operate and thrive.
I am puzzled that, a tradition that has long been associated with believing in the exchange of ideas, and respect for the rule of law will have its members attack a media house.
Perhaps, these thugs have taken cue from how the government and the party have allowed impunity to fester and grow in the NPP.
If I recall, no one was allowed to be punished when similar groups went to the seat of government in the Ashanti region to attack the then-national security coordinator. Again, no one was made to face the law, when these brutes attacked a court in Kumasi making the lady judge who was sitting on that case run for her life in the full glare of the public.
These events have led many to believe, leaders have lost the moral control of the party or they benefit from these barbaric acts. So, I ask, NPP HOW DID WE GET HERE?
I am equally amazed about how some members of the NPP are going about their daily routine as if they do not know the mood of the majority of Ghanaians and the potential danger awaiting the party in the near future.
Prominent and credible economists have predicted that considering the miserable and near hopeless state of the national economy, it might take Ghana at least 30 years to witness any semblance of recovery, even if we do everything right from now. Other knowledgeable, and equally credible economists tell us that they have not seen any country that has recovered from a malaise similar to what the NPP has visited on the country. The year 2024 will be turbulent economically, I am told.
Instead of addressing the challenges confronting us, the government appears to have resigned itself as if it had finished its job and Ghanaians should wait for the next administration to address the myriad of problems facing the country. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
The present configuration of the NPP has no resemblance to the tradition that gave birth to it. At the personal level, I look at some of the people in political authority, others running the affairs of the party and still others claiming to be elders of the party and I don’t see what I have in common with them. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
I had always believed that in Ghana the New Patriotic Party is the only major political party whose foundations are based on the principles of the rule of law, respect for the rights, opinions and dignity of the individual, fundamental human rights, pluralism and above all the separation of powers. The NPP tradition, as far as I know, does not believe that political power should be entrusted into the hands of one individual or a group of individuals and their family, friends, and concubines. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are given to human beings by God which is why they are called fundamental rights. They are not given by a benevolent government. Therefore any person or system that tramples on these rights acts against God and is not qualified to rule.
A political system that respects the rights of individual citizens and seeks their well-being and prosperity, when in power, supervises real socio-economic development and prosperity for them. What is happening in Ghana now appears to be the opposite. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Any political tradition that has despotic beginnings, or acquires despotic practices, to my mind, goes contrary to the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God. Any tyrant, dictator, or despot (congenital or acquired) who assumes the responsibilities of lawmaker, judge, and king at the same time becomes a god unto himself and practically does not respect the sovereignty of the Almighty God.
About eight years ago the NPP in opposition was broke. It opened a Mobile Money (MOMO) account and appealed to its members and sympathizers to donate “bits and pieces” for the party’s campaign efforts. The party won the elections and formed the present government with the fight against corruption as a major campaign pledge. Now, some people in the party and government appear to have become so rich that they don’t remember where we were eight years ago and are spending billions of Cedis to bribe the electorate to vote for a preferred candidate in internal party elections. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
There are people who claim to be stalwarts of the party; they have neither political appointments nor positions in the party structure. They appear to wield so much power that one of them is described as ‘de facto Prime Minister’ of the country. Apparently, they have what it takes to get their friends and favourites appointed to prominent and powerful positions in society. At the same time, they have the tendency to disrespect and make life difficult for Ghanaians. This is unlike the NPP we know. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
We are being served with a variation of “family, friends, and concubines government”, and control of the press not through violence but through bribery and intimidation. We are witnessing the weaponization of state institutions to silence transformative voices while allowing patronized corruption to flourish. Instead of development in freedom, we are witnessing unprecedented intimidation, economic retrogression, and suffering in silence. NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
To make matters worse, the ‘NPP establishment’ is busy promoting a presidential candidate, who to my mind is the most vulnerable and has more baggage than all the aspirants. It is like shopping for a problem when they already have an answer.
NPP, HOW DID WE GET HERE?
President John Dramani Mahama has commissioned four career diplomats as ambassador-designates to represent Ghana in four countries.
The commissioning ceremony took place on Friday, October 16, 2026.
The new envoys are Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo, Ambassador-Designate to Angola; His Excellency Louis Kwame Obeng, Ambassador-Designate to Qatar; Her Excellency Evelyn Korantemaa Ofosu-Amable, Ambassador-Designate to Israel; and His Excellency Jedidiah Reuben Adogla, Permanent Representative-Designate to Switzerland.
President Mahama charged them to advance Ghana’s national interests through strategic partnerships, economic diplomacy, investment mobilization, and expanded access to international markets.
He said Ghana’s diplomatic engagements must deliver tangible economic benefits, create jobs, and strengthen the country’s standing on the international stage.
The four envoys are career diplomats with over 27 years of experience.
On behalf of her colleagues, Her Excellency Nana Antwiwaa Dodoo thanked the President for the confidence reposed in them and pledged their commitment to emulate his leadership and deliver on the mandate given to them.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The professor who spends his days exploring the intricacies of African languages found himself at the centre of a different kind of lesson on Friday, October 2, 2026. 
This time, there were no lecture notes, academic arguments or university classrooms. Instead, there was the weight of tradition, the rhythm of a community celebration and the solemnity of an oath at a royal palace.
Professor Ọbádélé Kambon, a full Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Ghana, was enstooled as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene of Akuapem Mampong in the Eastern Region in a ceremony that brought academia and traditional authority together.
For the professor, the occasion was more than a new title. It was a moment that connected his academic interests in African languages and indigenous knowledge with the living traditions of an Akan community.
The day’s events unfolded through a series of customary observances. Kambon was first taken to the compounds of the Ɔkyeamehene and Gyasehene, where the preparations for his installation continued.
Then came the application of hyire, the white kaolin powder associated with traditional rites.
With the customary proceedings underway, the new chief was lifted onto the shoulders of celebrants and carried along the main thoroughfare of Akuapem Mampong.
The procession transformed the streets into a public stage for a ceremony rooted in the community’s traditional institutions.
There was something striking about the image, a university professor, accustomed to the measured language of academic discourse, being carried through the town in a display of traditional recognition.
Yet the celebration was not complete with the procession.
A ram was sacrificed at the Mamponghene’s compound before Kambon was taken to the palace, to swear the oath associated with his new offices.
The ceremony brought him formally into his roles as Apagyahene and Sunsum Ɔsahene.
Beyond the colourful proceedings, the titles themselves carry layers of historical meaning.
Kambon in his research explores the historical connections between Apagya and Akan political and military organisation.
Accounts cited in his work linked Apagya to an asafo, or military company, while historical writing traces an Apagya stool in Asante to the reign of Opoku Ware I in the eighteenth century.
These historical associations offer a glimpse into the institutions that have shaped Akan society over generations, although they do not automatically define the precise responsibilities of the office in Akuapem Mampong.
Kambon’s own professional life reflects a similar interest in preserving and examining African knowledge.
His work encompasses Akan language structure, naming practices across the Black world, proverbs and indigenous intellectual traditions.
Through Abibitumi, the platform he founded, he also promotes language learning, scholarship and cultural engagement.
But tradition was only one part of the story that day.
When the formal ceremony gave way to a reception, the occasion expanded into a celebration of three milestones: Kambon’s enstoolment, his promotion to full professor and his daughter Ama’s admission to the University of Ghana.
The gathering therefore carried a personal significance that went beyond the honours bestowed on one man. 
It celebrated professional advancement, the continuation of family aspirations and a connection to cultural heritage.
For a father, seeing a daughter gain admission to the same university where he holds a distinguished academic position offered another reason to celebrate.
For the professor, the moment placed family achievement alongside his own professional and traditional milestones.
Kambon had already established a place in the traditional life of Akuapem Mampɔn through an earlier installation as Banmuhene Kyidɔmhene, recorded in 2017.
His latest enstoolment adds another chapter to that relationship.
In Akuapem Mampɔn, the day brought together the university, the palace and the family table in one celebration. And for Kambon, the journey from the lecture room to the traditional procession showed how scholarship, cultural responsibility and family achievement could converge in a single memorable occasion.
By Enoch Ntiamoah Siaw
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