Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh
It seems Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, affectionately known as NAPO, has a knack for stirring up controversy—and this time, his fiery rhetoric is putting Vice President and NPP flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in a tight spot. Since being tapped as Bawumia’s running mate for the 2024 presidential elections, NAPO has been on a roll—unfortunately, it’s been a downward one.
Barely a month has passed since his nomination, and the former Energy Minister has been caught up in a series of public blunders, each one requiring more groveling apologies than the last. Who could forget the infamous “Your Kwame Nkrumah speech” at his grand unveiling? That faux pas rocked the political landscape, and just when we thought the dust had settled, NAPO is back at it, this time hurling inflammatory accusations at the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Speaking to a charged crowd in the Nkoranza South Constituency in the Bono East Region, NAPO didn’t mince his words. In a scathing tirade, he branded the NDC as “killers of pastors and destroyers of mosques,” accusing them of everything from murder to religious persecution.
“The NDC are killers of pastors and traditionalists, and they even tore down mosques of Muslims. They killed Odeefuo Asare, they killed Brother Amoako on a blazing sunny day; it didn’t stop there. They went on to murder Nana Drobo, who was working on a cure for HIV/AIDS, and they proceeded to break down mosques,” NAPO thundered, to the cheers of the partisan crowd.
But the drama didn’t stop there. NAPO went on to paint a dystopian picture of what life would be like under the NDC’s rule, claiming that if Zongo communities dared to vote for the opposition, they would see their hospitals turned into mortuaries. “Between a hospital and a mortuary, which do you prefer?” he challenged his audience, stoking fears and drawing applause from his political base.
Such incendiary remarks are raising eyebrows and drawing sharp criticism, particularly in comparison to Dr. Bawumia’s well-documented style of campaigning, which has largely been lauded for its focus on issues over insults. The Vice President has built a reputation for bringing a level of decorum to political discourse, and many see NAPO’s recent remarks as a step in the wrong direction.
“This is a disaster for the NPP. NAPO’s rhetoric is not just subpar, it’s damaging to Bawumia’s campaign,” one political analyst told The Hawk. “How can he talk about the NDC killing pastors that most of his audience have never even heard of when the people of Nkoranza are still reeling from the tragic shooting of their youth by soldiers two years ago?”
Indeed, the memories of the deadly 2022 incident, where Albert Donkor, a suspected armed robber, was killed in a police operation, are still fresh in the minds of Nkoranza residents. The protests that followed led to the death of one person and injuries to six others—a recent tragedy that resonates far more than NAPO’s historical grievances.
As Bawumia’s running mate, NAPO is supposed to be an asset, helping to galvanize support and add weight to the NPP’s campaign. Instead, his penchant for provocative statements seems to be dragging the party down, with critics pointing out that his words are more likely to alienate voters than win them over.
Whether NAPO’s incendiary comments will have lasting repercussions for the NPP remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Dr. Bawumia has a PR crisis on his hands, and it’s going to take more than a few carefully worded apologies to fix the damage.
The ball is now in the NPP’s court—will they rein in their loose-tongued running mate, or will NAPO’s fiery speeches continue to cause headaches for Dr. Bawumia and his bid for the presidency?
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