Dear Kwabena Frimpong, Former Deputy Protocol Director, NPP

Your letter attempts to isolate Hon. Sylvester Tetteh’s loss in Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfrom as a personal failure while deflecting broader accountability. That position is misleading and contradicted by the electoral data from December 7, 2024. Your defence—and the unwarranted attacks on Tetteh—appear more about protecting positions at the party headquarters than confronting the truth.

For the record, the NPP did not merely lose a seat; the party suffered a systemic, nationwide collapse under the leadership of General Secretary Justin Frimpong Kodua (JFK). To single out one candidate is to ignore over 50 lost parliamentary seats, multiple defeated cabinet ministers, and nearly two million lost votes. The numbers do not lie—and leadership must not either.

1. Bortianor-Ngleshie Was Not Lost—It Was Abandoned

The claim: Sylvester Tetteh lost due to personal failings.
The facts: In 2020, he secured 42,806 votes (53.30%) against the NDC’s 37,502 in a historically competitive constituency—making him the first NPP candidate to retain the seat consecutively.

What changed? The NDC’s numbers barely moved. The decisive shift came from within: 14,918 NPP voters who turned out in 2020 stayed home in 2024. This was not rejection—it was apathy.

That same voter withdrawal contributed to defeats of high-profile figures, including Ursula Owusu-Ekuful and Henry Quartey. When an incumbent loses despite the opposition not gaining ground, the issue is not the candidate—it is the party.

A critical lapse: the General Secretary failed to make even a single working visit to the constituency in four years, allowing internal disputes to fester and misinformation to spread. Leadership that amplifies division cannot escape responsibility for apathy.

2. Standards Set in 2022 Must Apply in 2024

In 2022, JFK argued that leadership must be judged by electoral growth—more seats and wider margins. That standard was used to unseat his predecessor after a drop from 169 to 137 seats.

By that same measure, the decline from 137 to 87 seats is not a setback—it is a political catastrophe.

Standards cannot be selective. If a 32-seat loss justified removal in 2022, a 50-seat loss demands accountability in 2024.

3. By-Elections Were Early Warning Signs

Between 2022 and 2024, the NPP contested six by-elections and won only two. It lost four—including Assin North and Akwatia—despite the advantages of incumbency.

By-elections test party machinery and voter enthusiasm. Losing two-thirds of them was not an anomaly; it was a warning. The general election outcome followed the same trajectory.

4. Greater Accra Collapse Signals National Rejection

Greater Accra, once a key battleground, saw a dramatic decline—from 14 seats to just 5. Nine seats were lost under JFK’s watch.

These were not fringe constituencies but long-held strongholds. When experienced ministers with significant resources lose their seats, the issue is no longer local—it is national. The party brand itself had become unattractive.

5. Ashanti Region: The Base Eroded

The Ashanti Region, the NPP’s electoral backbone, saw a loss of seven seats and a 33% drop in vote share.

When a party struggles in its strongest region, it signals deep internal disillusionment. A weakened base cannot sustain national victory.

6. Loss of ‘Safe Seats’ Underscores Systemic Failure

At least seven sitting ministers lost their seats, including long-held constituencies considered “safe.”

This was not about individual candidates. It was a nationwide verdict on the party’s direction and leadership. Voters were not splitting ballots—they were rejecting the NPP as a whole.

7. By His Own Standard, JFK Has Failed

By JFK’s own metrics:

Seats: 137 → 87 (loss of 50 seats)
By-elections: 2 wins, 4 losses
Presidential vote: 41.75% (lowest since 1996)
Strongholds weakened, with multiple regions recording no seats
Several cabinet ministers defeated

If leadership is about results, these results demand accountability.

Conclusion: Responsibility Begins at the Top

Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfrom was not lost because of one man. It was lost because voters disengaged from a party they no longer felt motivated to support.

That disengagement reflects leadership failure—not at the constituency level, but at the top.

Blaming individual candidates for a nationwide collapse is not only inaccurate; it avoids the real conversation the party must have about its future.

Yours in truth,
Gideon Osei Boamah
NPP Activist