My friends in the NPP have not learnt their lessons – Jirapa MP

Cletus Seidu Dapilah, Member of Parliament for Jirapa, has criticized the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for what he sees as a misguided strategy to rebuild the party after its defeat in the 2024 general elections.

In an interview with Lily Mohammed on GHToday on GHOne TV, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, Dapilah argued that the NPP has failed to take the right lessons from its loss and is focusing on the wrong priorities. He believes the party is rebuilding from the top instead of starting with its grassroots base—a move he thinks will ultimately backfire.

“My friends in the NPP have not learnt their lessons. You cannot organise a party using a top-bottom approach. When the foundation (the base) is weak, you will lose elections. Nothing can save you,” he said.

Dapilah pointed out that the NPP’s defeat, which came with a margin of over 1.7 million votes, should have been a time for serious introspection, especially for the party’s former flagbearer and former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

He questioned the party’s focus on internal activities such as organizing communicators and pushing forward new leadership ambitions, instead of first addressing the frustrations of the party’s grassroots supporters.

“You’ve lost elections. Why did you lose the elections? It is because your base was disgruntled, because you took Ghanaians for granted. So if you want to rebuild, you cannot be rebuilding from the top down,” he stressed.

For Dapilah, proper rebuilding means going back to the ground—mobilizing polling station executives, zonal coordinators, and ward-level structures. He praised former President Akufo-Addo’s decision to take a step back after his 2012 defeat, allowing time for reflection and healing, a path he feels the current NPP leadership should follow.

He also pointed to public criticism from within the party—by figures like Kennedy Agyapong and Bryan Acheampong—as signs of deeper divisions that must be addressed from the grassroots up.

“You were vice president two times. You were the candidate. You lost by 1.7 million votes. Why don’t you take a break, reflect and reconcile with your base?” he asked.

Dapilah concluded by saying that any political party that ignores its base and focuses solely on leadership at the top risks collapse, no matter how strong the top may appear.