Turns Bawumiah’s Ashanti Reg Campaign Tour into Insults Fiesta
By Phillip Antoh
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (Napo) has launched a scorched-earth political gamble that is now tearing the New Patriotic Party (NPP) apart. The former running mate, in a bid to flatter Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, declared that not a single member of ex-President Akufo-Addo’s cabinet was more intelligent than his boss.
But insiders say this was no mere gaffe; it is a calculated but dangerous strategy by Napo to bait Bawumia into retaining him as the running mate for the 2028 elections by presenting himself as the loudest and most loyal cheerleader.
The explosive comment captured during the former Vice President and 2028 Flagbearer of the NPP, however, has crossed a red line, insulting the collective brainpower of the party’s own founding pillars and risking a fatal rebellion against Bawumia’s candidacy.
In the now-viral clip, Napo is seen boasting to delegates about his own prolific policy submissions to cabinet before dropping the political bomb: “In that cabinet I didn’t see any intelligent member of the cabinet who was more intelligent than Dr. Bawumia.”
The statement was a tactical missile aimed at two targets: elevating Bawumia above all others to secure Napo’s own position, while simultaneously dismissing the intellect of every minister in the previous government, many of whom are still kingmakers within the NPP.
Senior party stalwarts are livid, viewing the comment as the ultimate betrayal and an unforgivable insult to leaders who built the party long before Bawumia’s political emergence.
The cabinet Napo dismissed included legal titans, economic gurus, and regional power brokers whose support is not optional for any candidate seeking to lead the NPP to victory.
“This is not just Napo’s verbal diarrhea; this is political arson,” a furious former Minister from the Akufo-Addo government told The New Republic. “He is trying to buy his ticket on Bawumia’s campaign by burning down the house of the very people whose blessing Bawumia needs. It’s a stupid, selfish strategy that could cost us the election.”
Napo’s gambit has trapped Bawumia in a political nightmare. If Bawumia openly rebukes Napo, he risks alienating his most vocal supporter and facing backlash from Napo’s loyal faction.
If he stays silent, he is seen as endorsing the insult, potentially driving the party’s old guard and their massive supporters into silent opposition or, worse, towards his internal rivals.
“Napo has handed Bawumia a loyalty test that has no correct answer,” said political analyst Dr. Clara Mensah. “It’s a poisoned chalice. Keeping Napo close signals that insulting party elders is acceptable. Distancing himself from Napo looks like disloyalty to a fierce ally. It’s a masterclass in how to cripple your own candidate.”
This is not Napo’s first catastrophic comment. In July 2024, he claimed President Akufo-Addo had outperformed Ghana’s founder, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, forcing him to travel to Nkrumah’s hometown, Nkroful, to kneel and beg for forgiveness from chiefs. After the NPP’s 2024 loss, which he admitted his comments contributed to, he promised to change.
His latest outburst proves that change is unlikely. Analysts now believe Napo’s relentless, controversial praise is a high-stakes audition for the Vice Presidential slot, believing that unwavering, loud loyalty trumps everything else.
Napo’s attempt to secure his place on the 2028 ticket by calling an entire government stupid has backfired spectacularly. Instead of making himself indispensable, he has ignited a civil war within the NPP and placed Bawumia in an untenable position.
The party now faces a bitter choice: curb Napo’s destructive loyalty and risk a fracture, or allow his insults to stand and watch its foundational pillars withdraw their support. In trying to be Bawumia’s biggest defender, Napo may have just become his greatest liability.