In a recent article, “Victor Owusu, Paa Willie and the Echoes of Division in Today’s NPP,” I argued that the biggest threat to the New Patriotic Party has often come not from the opposition, but from within.
The events of 1979 remain the clearest example. Victor Owusu’s Popular Front Party and William Ofori-Atta’s United National Convention came from the same political tradition but entered the election divided. Together, they won more votes in the first round than Dr. Hilla Limann’s People’s National Party. Yet history remembers not their combined strength, but their failure to unite behind a common goal. The numbers were there, but the unity was not, and the presidency slipped away.
It is against this background that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s recent political decisions should be understood, especially his appointment of all his former presidential rivals as heads of key policy committees within the party’s new structure.
The strategy strongly resembles Abraham Lincoln’s famous “Team of Rivals” approach, popularised by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s study of Lincoln during the American Civil War. At its core, however, the idea was simple and powerful.
In 1860, Lincoln won the Republican presidential nomination against men who were seen as more experienced and politically stronger than he was. William Seward was the frontrunner. Salmon Chase was a leading voice of the anti-slavery movement. Edward Bates represented the conservative wing of the party, while Simon Cameron controlled a powerful political machine in Pennsylvania. Lincoln defeated them all. Then he appointed them all.
Many people thought the decision was risky. Why would a leader surround himself with ambitious rivals who had questioned his competence and believed they were more qualified to lead?
Lincoln understood something many leaders fail to understand: excluding rivals can be more dangerous than including them.
A rival left outside the tent can become a source of resistance and division. A rival brought inside the structure becomes invested in the success of the larger project. Shared responsibility changes political behaviour.
A similar political logic appears to underpin Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s recent approach within the NPP.
By giving Kennedy Agyapong, Kwabena Agyapong, Hon. Bryan Acheampong, and Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum key roles within the NPP’s new policy structure, Bawumia appears to be following the same political logic: that internal competition should not end in permanent division.
Politically, the strategy sends several important signals. First, it promotes inclusion. Former rivals are not being pushed aside or treated as defeated factions. Instead, they are being brought into the centre of the party’s rebuilding process. Second, it helps prevent the rise of alternative power centres outside the party structure. In politics, influential figures who feel excluded rarely disappear quietly.
Perhaps most importantly, it projects confidence. Leaders who surround themselves only with loyalists often appear insecure, whereas leaders who are willing to work with former rivals project maturity and political strength. Yet this is also where the real challenge begins. Creating a “Team of Rivals” is easier than managing one. Lincoln succeeded not simply because he appointed rivals, but because he kept them working together during one of the most difficult periods in American history.
He managed ambition carefully, balanced strong personalities, and kept internal competition from turning into paralysis. Bawumia now faces a similar test within a very different political environment. Although the NPP is not facing civil war, it is dealing with something politically dangerous after the 2024 defeat: the risk of internal fragmentation.
For that reason, this new arrangement cannot survive on symbolism alone. The committees must carry real influence, genuine participation, and a sense of shared ownership. Ultimately, the true success of Bawumia’s strategy will not be measured by the appointments themselves, but by whether these rivals remain committed to a common project as the road to 2028 unfolds.
If appointing former rivals provides the political symbolism behind Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s strategy, then the real strength of the project lies in the structure built around it. At the centre is the Central Policy Committee, which oversees working groups on key national issues. Leading that structure is Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah. Widely seen as one of the NPP’s strongest communicators and one of its leading younger political minds, his experience as former Information Minister, combined with his policy and parliamentary background, gives him both visibility and credibility. Just as importantly, he is respected across different sections of the party and beyond it. More importantly, the role of the Central Policy Committee extends beyond administrative coordination. It is fundamentally about strategic integration.
The former rivals each bring distinct political strengths into the arrangement: Kennedy Agyapong contributes populist appeal and grassroots energy; Hon Bryan Acheampong brings organisational reach and operational influence; Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum adds technocratic depth and policy credibility; while Kwabena Agyapong represents institutional memory and reconciliation with older strands of the party tradition.
Oppong Nkrumah’s role, however, is different. His responsibility is to transform these competing political energies into a coherent and marketable governing vision. In many respects, he becomes the architect of synergy within the framework, the figure responsible for ensuring that the party speaks with one voice rather than several competing ones.
A structure of this scale cannot function effectively if sectoral committees evolve into separate political fiefdoms promoting competing agendas and future ambitions. Coordination, therefore, is not secondary to the experiment. It is the experiment.
In politics, consequential leadership is often revealed in the wisdom to unite competing forces around a common purpose after difficult moments. In many respects, that is what Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia appears to be demonstrating through the emerging “Team of Rivals” approach within the New Patriotic Party.
More importantly, the significance of this strategy lies in its blend of political intelligence and political necessity, a distinction that is important in understanding current developments within the party. On one level, the logic is strategic. Following a closely contested primary and the aftermath of the 2024 electoral defeat, Dr. Bawumia appears to have viewed former internal competitors not as threats to be managed, but as political assets to be integrated into a broader rebuilding effort.
Beyond that, what makes the strategy especially significant is its shift from symbolism to structured coordination. The creation of the Central Policy Committee under the leadership of Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah provides an institutional centre through which diverse political strengths can be aligned into a coherent direction ahead of 2028. In that sense, this design may ultimately prove to be one of the most consequential elements of the arrangement.
At the centre of this structure is Hon Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who brings intellectual clarity, communication discipline, and strategic coordination to a coalition of influential political actors. Around this structure sits a blend of complementary strengths within the party: Kennedy Agyapong’s grassroots appeal, Hon Bryan Acheampong’s organisational influence, Kwabena Agyapong’s institutional experience, and Adutwum’s technocratic credibility.
In many ways, this is what makes the comparison with Abraham Lincoln’s “Team of Rivals” more than a superficial analogy. Lincoln understood that strong leaders do not fear talent, influence, or ambition within their own ranks. Rather, they harness them in service of a larger political mission. Bawumia’s approach reflects that same logic. At a time when division could easily have deepened after the 2024 elections, he has opted for integration over exclusion and coalition-building over factionalism.
For the rank and file of the NPP, this moment represents the beginning of a broader rebuilding effort aimed at returning the party to power in 2028. As a result, each major political bloc within the party now has representation, voice, and responsibility within the broader structure, creating a sense of shared ownership of the mission ahead.
Even so, that mission cannot succeed through suspicion, internal rivalry, or factional calculations. Instead, it will require sustained discipline and collective alignment behind the spirit of unity that this structure represents.
Ultimately, the significance of this approach lies not simply in the inclusion of former rivals. Rather, it lies in the creation of a framework within which rivals can work together, contribute together, and potentially succeed together. The task before the party, therefore, is clear: unite behind the structure, strengthen it, and carry it forward to victory in 2028.
This opinion piece was written by Jibril Salifu, Member, North London Chapter, NPP UK
