TNR Files
The contest for the National Women’s Organiser post in the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has sharpened ahead of the party’s 3 October national delegates conference.
The incumbent, Kate Gyamfua, who has served two terms and is ineligible to run again, has thrown her weight behind her deputy, Safia Mohammed, against Mavis Hawa Koomson, a former minister and former MP for Awutu Senya East. Koomson is widely seen as Mohammed’s main challenger.
Gyamfua’s open backing of Mohammed has turned an otherwise routine succession into a personal battle. In a video circulating online, the outgoing organiser said the contest was ‘not for confrontational people’, an apparent reference to Koomson’s reputation.
Koomson has admitted firing warning shots during a nationwide voter registration exercise, saying she acted in self-defence, and has been accused of involvement in violent incidents in her constituency during registration and elections.
She lost her Awutu Senya East seat to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in December 2024 and was attacked by unknown men during the Ayawaso North rerun last year. Her combative profile has earned her the nickname ‘Kasoa Vandam’.
Gyamfua’s message to delegates is that the women’s wing should be led from within. Drawing an analogy with the Police Service, she argued: ‘If there is a vacancy in the Police Service for the IGP position, you don’t replace him with a headmaster.’ Mohammed, a former national coordinator of the School Feeding Programme, had served her turn, Gyamfua said.
She recalled that she herself had been national deputy when Otiko supported her rise. Mohammed, she added, was composed and respectful. ‘We are not going to fight. If we are looking for the person that is tough, we would have voted for Ken Agyapong during the presidential primaries,’ she said after accompanying Mohammed to vetting.
Koomson did not respond directly to the latest remarks. In an earlier interview on United Television (UTV), she gave her account of past dealings with Gyamfua. She said the incumbent had called her while she was a minister to relay what she described as a pastor’s vision: that Koomson would hold an important position and move the party forward, and that the two should work together. When Koomson asked for details, Gyamfua declined to elaborate and ended the call. Koomson said she still had a message from Gyamfua dated 12 April 2022, sent after the incumbent could not reach her by phone. When she later declared her intention to contest and visited Gyamfua at her residence, she reminded her of the message and Gyamfua said she recalled it.
With the 3 October conference approaching, the exchanges have added an unexpected edge to the race. Delegates will choose between continuity in the women’s wing and a new, more combative face. The outcome will gauge the outgoing organiser’s remaining influence and the NPP’s appetite for a tougher women’s front as it rebuilds after its 2024 election defeat.