Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) running mate, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has called on the party’s leadership to strengthen its grassroots structures as part of efforts to rebuild the party ahead of future elections.
Dr Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as NAPO, said the NPP’s long-term survival and electoral prospects would depend on reconnecting with its grassroots, developing new organisers and creating opportunities for younger members to take on greater responsibilities.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, he said the current generation of NPP members must build on the political foundation established by previous generations rather than depend solely on the party’s historical strength.
“Every generation receives both an inheritance and an assignment,” he stated.
He said the Ashanti Region, traditionally regarded as a major electoral stronghold of the NPP, should consider how it can contribute to the party’s future beyond its established voting support.
“Today, as Dr Mahamudu Bawumia leads our party into its next chapter, Ashanti Region must ask not only what it has contributed to the NPP, but what it is prepared to contribute to its future,” Dr Prempeh said.
NPP urged to strengthen grassroots structures
Dr Prempeh called for stronger constituency organisations, deeper engagement with party supporters at the grassroots level and greater participation of young people.
He also urged the NPP to deliberately develop a new generation of organisers who can sustain the party’s structures and political tradition.
He cautioned against defining the Ashanti Region’s relationship with the NPP solely through its reputation as the party’s “World Bank”.
According to him, the region’s contribution to the party has historically extended beyond votes to include organisers, political thinkers, activists, parliamentarians and national leaders.
“That is why I sometimes hesitate when Kumasi and Ashanti Region are described simply as the NPP’s World Bank,” he said. “Our relationship with this tradition is older and deeper than votes.”
NAPO recalls NPP political history
Dr Prempeh traced the roots of the political tradition associated with the NPP to the National Liberation Movement (NLM), highlighting the role of Baffour Osei Akoto and other activists who organised around political and economic concerns during the 1950s.
He noted that the tradition subsequently developed through the United Party and Progress Party before finding renewed expression in the NPP in 1992.
He argued that the history of the tradition demonstrates the importance of organisation, sacrifice and persistence in sustaining political movements through difficult periods.
“Those who gathered around the Subin organised. Those who built the United Party organised. Those who kept the tradition alive through difficult years organised. Those who founded the NPP built again,” he stated.
He also pointed to the NPP’s eventual return to power under former President John Agyekum Kufuor as an example of how sustained organisation and persistence can contribute to electoral success.
Dr Prempeh therefore urged the current generation of NPP members to regard the party’s political inheritance as a responsibility that must be strengthened and passed on, rather than as an entitlement.
