Kojo Bamba’s election as New Patriotic Party (NPP) First Vice Chairman reflects fears over ballot protection, but the economy will decide 2028, a political scientist said on 10 October 2026.
Dr Kwame Asah Asante of the University of Ghana told TV3’s The Key Points that delegates backed Bamba because they worry about the safety of their ballots on election day. He said voters would judge the party mainly on jobs and living costs. “Security is very important, but the economy and unemployment will determine the outcome,” he said.
The result places a grassroots organiser with a contested past among the top officers of the main opposition party as it rebuilds after losing power in the 2024 general election.
Bamba, whose real name is Kwadwo Fosu Boadu, topped a field of 13 aspirants for three vice chairmanship slots at the party’s National Delegates Conference at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on 3 October. He polled 3,116 votes. Henry Nana Boakye took second place with 3,061 and Nana Akomea third with 2,987. Former minister Mustapha Hamid, who polled 2,956, missed out by 31 votes.
Akomea, now Third Vice Chairman, has partly credited the voting format. Delegates picked three names from one list, with the highest scorer becoming First Vice Chairman, he told Joy News on 5 October. He said several delegates told him they planned to vote for him and another established candidate, and to add Bamba as their third choice.
Bamba campaigned on protecting party members and ballots at polling stations and collation centres, and on strengthening the party’s grassroots structures.
His rise has drawn scrutiny because media reports have long linked him to Delta Force, a pro-NPP vigilante group. In March 2017, members of the group stormed the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council in Kumasi, forced the newly appointed regional security coordinator, George Adjei, out of his office and damaged property. Thirteen members were arrested and charged with assault and other offences, and supporters later disrupted their court hearing. Parliament passed the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 (Act 999), which outlaws such groups, two years later.
Fiifi Boafo, a member of the NPP communications team, defended the new vice chairman on the same programme. He said people who know Bamba only as someone who protects others underrate him, and described him as more intelligent and capable than that image suggests.
Bamba will serve alongside National Chairman John Boadu, who won his race with 2,888 votes, as the party prepares for the 2028 general election.
