Viper Bawumia and Ken Bulldog in Near-Brawls Shocker
A public signing of a peace pact by the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) five presidential aspirants has descended into a spectacular display of simmering internal warfare, exposing a party riven by deep-seated animosity and a crisis of discipline mere months after its election defeat.
The event, held at the Alisa Hotel under the gaze of former President Nana Akufo-Addo, was meant to project unity. Instead, it has become the stage for a damaging controversy, revealing that the two front-runners, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and firebrand MP Kennedy Agyapong, came perilously close to a physical altercation.
The curtain was pulled back not by an anonymous leaker, but by a fellow contender. Dr. Bryan Acheampong, the Abetifi MP and former Agriculture Minister, has publicly claimed he single-handedly prevented “disaster” by physically intervening between a visibly furious Bawumia and a provokingly smiling Agyapong. “If I hadn’t been strategically placed… it could have been a disaster,” Acheampong told delegates, framing himself as the divinely-appointed arbiter in a party losing its composure.
This revelation is no casual anecdote; it is a strategic missile in Acheampong’s own flagbearership campaign. By portraying the leading candidates as volatile and himself as the steady hand, he positions his candidacy as the solution to the NPP’s “discipline” problem a theme he vowed to solve from “1st February,” the day after the primary.
The hotel showdown was merely the climax of days of escalating vitriol. The conflict ignited when Agyapong released a video calling Bawumia “a big liar” unfit for leadership, accusing him of distorting party history. Bawumia’s campaign demanded an immediate retraction and apology, which Agyapong dismissed with characteristic bravado: “I will apologise to my foot.”
Bawumia, campaigning in the Ashanti Region, responded by claiming his rivals’ campaigns were “running on flat tires,” resorting to insults because they cannot win on ideas. He alleged a coordinated strategy of character assassination, telling delegates, “a bird whispered to us… they are going to come out with a strategy to insult and lie against me.”
The discord extends far beyond the two main rivals, revealing a culture of mutual contempt. Agyapong later mocked the “PhD holders” in the race, claiming Acheampong signed the peace pact in the wrong place due to a lack of diligence a jab that ties into his populist critique of an out-of-touch elite.
This internal chaos is set against the backdrop of an even graver condemnation. Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a founding stalwart and former minister, has publicly labelled the current NPP “fake,” a party that has abandoned its core values. The party’s response has been to immediately initiate expulsion proceedings against him, choosing purge over introspection.
This series of explosive incidents points to a party in existential crisis. The NPP is not merely conducting a competitive primary; it is engaged in a bitter fight over its identity post-Akufo-Addo. The factions represent fundamentally different visions: Bawumia’s technocratic continuity, Agyapong’s disruptive populism, and Acheampong’s promise of restored order.
Acheampong’s decision to publicly narrate the near-brawl is a high-risk, high-reward tactic. It undermines the party’s public image to bolster his own. It suggests that for some contenders, highlighting the party’s disintegration is a more viable path to victory than promising to unite it.
The peace pact has proven to be mere theatre. The real document being signed is a testament to the NPP’s profound disarray, with each chapter—from alleged lies and insults to botched signatures and stalwart expulsion revealing a movement at war with itself. The winner on January 31st will inherit not just a flagbearer’s mantle, but the monumental task of quelling a mutiny.