Augustine Collins Ntim, a former Deputy Local Government Minister under the Akufo-Addo administration, has expressed worry about the increasing use of ethnic and religious sentiments in current Ghanaian politics, notably within the opposition New Patriotic Party.
Mr. Ntim, who currently chairs Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s Middle Belt Campaign Committee, said that such divisive tendencies are contrary to NPP heritage.
During a door-to-door campaign to rally support for Dr. Bawumia’s re-election as the NPP’s 2028 presidential candidate, he emphasized, “There are people within the party who are spreading the message that Christians did not vote for Dr. Bawumia in the 2024 elections because he is a Muslim. This is highly unusual in the NPP. We reject such divisive comments because every NPP member understands that the party does not segregate.”
“In any case, post-2024 election reports never indicated that Dr. Bawumia lost the election because of his religious belief or tribe, so where is this coming from?”
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP’s former Vice-President and 2024 presidential candidate, has also warned party members against engaging in tribal and religious politics, warning that it could endanger the party’s prospects of regaining power in 2028.
Dr. Bawumia addressed the NPP New York Chapter’s 33rd Anniversary celebration on Sunday, August 24, 2025, urging members to look beyond the 2024 defeat and unite over vision, competence, and ideas rather than divisive propaganda.
He denied suggestions that his northern and Muslim heritage contributed to the party’s defeat in 2024, calling them unfounded.
Dr. Bawumia called such narratives “unbelievable and dangerous,” warning that they could portray the NPP as an exclusionary political tradition.
Previously, NPP presidential candidate Bryan Acheampong claimed that under both former President John Agyekum Kufuor and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the NPP received votes from both the Kusasi and Mamprusi villages in Bawku.
According to him, the party chose Dr. Bawumia as its 2024 candidate because he was a member of one of the feuding tribes and could rally support from both ethnic groupings.
However, he argued that the tactic backfired, resulting in the NPP’s worst election setback in history.
Source: newsthemegh.com