General News of Wednesday, 20 May 2026

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

'We are a government-in-waiting' - Bawumia to NPP MPs

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia if the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party(NPP) Dr Mahamudu Bawumia if the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party(NPP)

NPP Flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has declared that the New Patriotic Party's posture going into the new parliamentary session must be that of a "government-in-waiting", sending a decisive signal that the party has moved past post-election introspection and is now squarely focused on the path back to power in 2029.

Addressing the Minority Caucus in a closed-door briefing on the eve of Parliament's resumption, Dr Bawumia told the MPs that how they conduct themselves from Thursday's sitting onward would be central to rebuilding Ghanaian confidence in the NPP as a capable and trustworthy governing party.

"Let every Ghanaian who watches this session come away thinking: the NPP is ready, and the NPP is on our side."

A Strategic Shift in Posture The declaration represents a deliberate strategic repositioning by the party's flagbearer. Rather than framing the Minority's role primarily as a defensive exercise in post-defeat recovery, Dr Bawumia reframed it as an assertive, forward-looking enterprise with a clear destination: forming the next government of Ghana in January 2029.

He acknowledged that the NDC government's honeymoon period was gradually wearing off and that Ghanaians were beginning to ask harder questions about the administration's ability to deliver on its campaign promises. He positioned this as a window of opportunity for the NPP to step forward as the credible alternative.

The Road to 2028 Starts Now Dr Bawumia was insistent that the work of rebuilding voter confidence cannot be deferred to the election season. He told MPs that the NDC government's goodwill must be worn down gradually and persistently, and that every parliamentary session, every committee hearing, every media engagement, and every constituency visit was an opportunity to advance that objective.

"The road to 2028 will not be won in one rally or one manifesto launch," he told the Caucus. "It will be won day by day, question by question, statement by statement, community by community, and constituency by constituency. And in that work, you, the Minority Caucus, are indispensable."

Projecting A Governing Mentality The Flagbearer outlined what this governing posture should look like in practice: MPs who speak with facts when they question ministers; who speak with discipline when they address the press; who carry hope when they return to their constituencies; and who remind their constituents that the NPP has not disappeared and has not been silenced, but is carefully preparing a better, more visionary government.

He also called on the Caucus to offer credible alternative propositions where they criticise government policy, arguing that a purely oppositional stance would fail to resonate with Ghanaians who want substance, not obstruction. "An opposition that opposes everything is heard by nobody," he said.

Unity as Foundation Undergirding the government-in-waiting posture, Dr Bawumia placed a firm emphasis on unity as the Caucus's greatest asset. He called on MPs to subordinate personal ambitions to the collective goal of returning the NPP to power, and stressed that the party's rivals must not be given the gift of avoidable internal divisions.

"Let no one outside this party profit from avoidable divisions within our ranks," he said. "The people who sent us to Parliament, and the millions who still look to us for hope, deserve a united and serious NPP."

Dr Bawumia closed his address with words of personal confidence in the Caucus, declaring that he was proud of each MP, trusted them, and would stand with them every step of the way as the party works to rebuild, reorganise, reconnect with the Ghanaian people, and return to government.

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