Your Excellency, former Vice President and former flag bearer of our party, Dr Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, and your dear spouse, our respected former colleague, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, and former running mate of our dear party, members of the diplomatic corps, national executives of our great party, distinguished members of the Council of Elders, second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, colleagues in leadership, honourable, mighty minority members of Parliament, regional executives, constituency executives, distinguished delegates, representatives from our external branches, fellow patriots, members of TESCON, friends from the media, ladies and gentlemen.
Let us recall the piercing whistle of our revered former President, John Agyekum Kufuor. It is better to be a cleaner in a party in power than the General Secretary of a party in opposition.
These words echo with urgency today as we gather in the shadow of our 2024 defeat, a loss that stinks not because we failed but because Ghana is now paying the price for trusting the NDC’s hollow promises.
Barely months into the alternative, the NDC’s betrayal is clearing. New levies on fuel have spiked pump prices.
Crashing ordinary Ghanaians. Their plight to end galamsey has collapsed into chaos. The President calls it a national emergency, yet refuses to declare a state of emergency to chaos.
Their vow to reset our nation has become a brazen assault on our judicial, starting with a shameful vilification of our Chief Justice.
Their promise of change, a sham, with schemes afoot to funnel our mineral wealth to their cronies.
Worst of all, their questionable Ablekuma rerun, where NDC-affiliated attacks have tired our candidates, Nana Ekua Afriyie, former MP Hawa Koomson, and journalists expose their willingness to trample democracy with violence. The message is clear. NDC is a failure. Ghana deserves better.
Our 2024 loss exposed our cracks, internal rifts, fortune resolved, and a message that didn’t connect. Yet this defeat is not our end. It is our crucible, fortifying us for the battles ahead.
You must channel this moment of disillusionment into a movement of renewal, turning pain into purpose.
Let me share a story that should humble all of us. In 2005, a democratically elected leader stood at the gate of the American Embassy in New Delhi, holding a valid passport, but facing an insurmountable barrier.
The United States had denied Narendra Modi a visa, not for any criminal conviction, but because the world had judged him guilty. Imagine that moment of profound isolation.
Here was a man who had won the trust of millions, yet reduced to persona non grata on the global stage.
The humiliation was complete. The path forward seemed impossible, but Modi made a choice that day that would define not his future, but the destiny of his party and some 1.5 billion people.
Today, that same man commands audience at the G20, addresses joint sessions of the United States Congress, and leads one of the world’s most growing economies.
Recently, he visited our republic and addressed our parliament, stating, true democracy promotes discussions and debates. It unites people. It supports dignity and promotes human rights.
I couldn’t agree more. Modi’s journey from global barrier to world state offers us the NPP, a road map from our current wilderness to future victory. Modi’s resurrection began with a revolutionary principle.
In a nation fractured by castes, religious, ethnic, and linguistic differences, he declared, all the citizens, all the voters are my countrymen.
Fellow patriots, look around us this very afternoon. Look at the divisions that have sprouted like weeds since our defeat.
We cannot, we must not allow 2024 to become the year that destroyed the NPP. From this moment, we speak with one voice. We move with one resolve.
We are not Achem, Ashanti, Fante, Mamprushi, Gonja, Ga or Ewe. We are NPP. We are not north or south.
We are Ghana first. Modi’s transformation was built on principles that never wavered. Service before self.
Performance over promises. Dignity through opportunity. These values are not foreign to us.
They are our foundation. Busia believed in service before self. Dankwa championed dignity through opportunity.
Tumbo sacrificed his leadership rights and fought for performance over promises. We have not lost our way because we forgot our policies. We have lost our way because we abandoned our principles.
Modi’s political resurrection was built on methodical grassroots mobilization. From the mid-1980s onwards, he dragged to villages others ignored. Sat with farmers others dismissed and listened to the dreams others regarded as impossible.
Perhaps we became a party talking to itself in Accra. We must become a party of Ghana talking to Ghana. Our constituency executives must master every polling station.
Our polling station chairpersons must know every voter. Our electoral area coordinators must understand every community’s dreams. Modi’s greatest achievement was rebranding not just himself but India’s entire narrative.
The country known for poverty became known for possibilities but this rebranding wasn’t cosmetic. It was substantive. We cannot rebrand ourselves through better slogans.
We must rebrand ourselves through better results and strong character. This conference marks a pivotal moment in our party’s journey.
As we gather under the theme rebuilding together with our values, we are called not only to reflect but to renew.
We are called to look inward and ask ourselves the hard questions. Who are we? What binds us? And where are we going? We are in a season that demands sober reflection, radical unity and a return to first principles. This is a time of transition.
A time when we are repositioning as a party in opposition. It is a time to rebuild. A time to reconnect with our grassroots.
To re-express our ideals with clarity and reconnect to the Kenyan people with bold new vision for the future.
We are at a critical juncture as a party not because our tradition is broken but because it is being tested.
Tested by an electoral defeat, internal tensions, unmet expectations and the competing ambition of people who want to say.
But let us remind ourselves ambition must never override party loyalty. Competition must never erode patriotism and political differences must never poison the well of unity.
Dear patriots, every political tradition, every movement that has endured storms and achieved victories has been built on one unshakable foundation, unity.
Without unity we are just individuals with ambition. But with unity we become a force, a party with direction, discipline and destiny. Unity doesn’t mean uniformity.
It doesn’t mean we all agree on everything. It means loyalty to a shared purpose. It means commitment to the flag, the same values and the same future.
The NPP has never been nearly a political organization. We are a tradition built on the sacrifice and convictions of patriots who came before us. Patriots who believed in liberty, human dignity, the rule of law and the boundless potential of the Ghanaian people.
Realized through the active participation of the private sector, these values must be our compass especially now. For us as a party, the muddy story is instructive. The lesson for us is simple.
It is possible to rebuild and leadership is empty without a united party. Like the BJP, we have known both power and opposition. We have faced criticism and internal differences.
But unity is not the absence of disagreement. It is a decision to prioritize collective strength over individual ambition. If we are to reclaim our position of leadership and trust, we must first reclaim the spirit of unity, discipline and shared purpose that build this party.
We must reconnect with the base, re-engage the grassroots and rise together, not as isolated contenders, but as a unified movement driven by conviction and clarity. Like the BJP, our party too must rediscover the principle and the ethos that define our founding fathers. We must rebuild, yes, but not as a scattered stone.
We must rebuild together, brick by brick, anchored in our values and in the unshakable belief that no individual, no individual, no individual is bigger than the MPP. That belief must reflect our tone, our language, our strategy and most importantly in our posture towards one another. Internal discord, suspicions and disunity have cost us.
We must learn from our losses and must do so quickly. And I ask again, what are our values? Our party guided by the enduring motto, development in freedom, stands for democratic accountability, the rule of law, free enterprise and national self-confidence.
Rooted in the Dankwa-Busia tradition, we are inspired by a deep sense of perseverance, resilience and an unyielding faith in Ghana’s manifest destiny as a free, just and prosperous society of opportunities.
We believe in building a nation where every Ghanaian, regardless of their circumstance of birth, gender, ethnicity or religion, must be offered the chance to rise through merit, effort and enterprise.
Our vision of a property-owning democracy has evolved beyond land or housing to mean giving every citizen a stake in national progress through education, healthcare, financial inclusion and decent jobs. Every child and youth must be equipped with the skills, values, confidence and opportunity to be entrepreneurial or to climb the professional career ladder.
From rural development and both social interventions to neutralization, the NPP remains committed to inclusive growth, law and order and empowering all Ghanaians to shape their own destinies in a free society. We believe in inclusive growth that lifts farmers, teachers, traders and students together.
We stand for law and order, the bedrock of peace and progress. We uphold democratic accountability where leaders serve, not rule. Because in this party, we believe Ghana’s greatness lies in the hands of their people. Your sweat, your courage and your dreams.
In freedom, you the Ghanaian are the author of your destiny. This is our covenant. They are the binding principles of the NPP.
The NPP has never been a party of despair. We are a party of destiny, but that destiny will slip from our hands if we allow disunity, bitterness, anger and self-interest to consume us. Let us end the hate campaigns and the subtle sabotage.
It is time to choose unity over evil and party over self. If we fight one another, we will end up falling together. But if we fight for one another, we shall rise together.
We have known victory and defeat. We’ve made mistakes, but we are not a broken party. We are only a battle-tested party.
We must not allow current challenges to blur our vision or break our ranks. Yes, we have differences. Yes, we’ve made mistakes, but we must never forget we are what we stand for and where we are going.
Let this be a reminder.
No matter how talented a leader is, they are nothing without a united, disciplined and visionary party behind them. That symbiosis, leader and party rising together, is what we must seek to achieve.
No individual can make it alone. Everyone needs the party. Since the NDC government assumed office in January, we’ve witnessed a very disturbing development, intimidation of our party members and a dangerous trend of persecution of our leaders and supporters.
These attacks are not random. They are strategic attempts to weaken us, but they will fail. They will fail because our response will be unity.
Our motto moving forward from today should be, touch one, touch all. When one of us is touched, all of us must rise. We are one family and the strength of our family is its loyalty in crisis.
If we choose unity over ego, purpose over personal ambition, no force, no force can ever stop us in 2028. When we are united, no external force can divide us, but when we are divided, even our strength can be used against us. Rebuilding does not mean avoiding or overlooking our differences.
It means confronting them with maturity. It means refusing to let factions become permanent fractures. It means calling each other back to the centre, the core which brought us this far.
Your servants in parliament hereby assure you through me that the MPP caucus remains resolute. We are not retreating. We are strong, united and committed to the values and ideologies of our party.
We shall continue to defend the legacy of our party in parliament, hold government accountable and show the Ghanaian people that we remain the better alternative. To our aspiring candidates, let this be a season of sober reflection. There is room for all of us at the table, but there is no room for selfish ambition.
Let us rise above the temptation to win at all costs and choose instead to serve at all costs. Delegates, the future of our party lies in the choices we make today. Let us choose unity over division.
Let us all rally around our elected leaders and reignite hope among our base. To our grassroots, you are the lifeblood of this great tradition. Your sacrifices, your patience and unwavering loyalty have kept us afloat in seasons of triumph and in valleys of loss and so to you, I say, hold on. Do not lose hope. We shall rise again.
The elephant has only stumbled. It has not been defeated. You have never given up on us and we, your servants in parliament, will never give up on you either and to our youth, you have formed a majority and your energy, your voice and your ideas are not just welcome, they are essential. Tescon, this is your moment. Stay grounded to our values.
Stay focused on the bigger picture. Know that the future of this party belongs to you, the Tescon youth and our youth scattered all over the country. Learn from the elders in parliament, don’t insult them, engage them, absorb their wisdom and grow with a strong conviction of our party and what it stands for.
That way you can also lead with clarity, build with purpose and sustain the NPP legacy that has been entrusted to you. It is time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. Yes, we lost 2024 elections in a big way, but let us be clear, this was not a defeat born out of failure.
It was a perfect storm of adversity no government in the fourth republic has ever had. From the banking crisis that threatened to collapse our financial system, which we spent billions fixing, restoring confidence and stability, to the global COVID-19 pandemic that brought the world to its knees.
Then came the Russian-Ukraine war, unleashing the harshest course of living, crisis in generation and through it all, we govern with a hung parliament and an opposition speaker.
No government, no government in our democratic history faced this scale of compounded crisis. Yet, in the driving seat, we held the line.
We do not downplay the struggle the Ghanaian people had to endure, but we should commend them because it was a sacrifices day, including the bondholders made, which led to the big economic recovery we started witnessing from early 2024.
We endured, the people endured, and still we delivered. There was leadership tested best in major crisis.
We should not be shy of the mighty gains we made under very difficult circumstances under Nana Akufo-Addo. We fixed the crisis and handed over an economy with stronger GDP growth than what we inherited in 2017.
We built historic levels of gold and foreign exchange reserves, reserves the current administration is now relying on to prop up the city and support the economy.
We created jobs, we built more roads than any government in eight years span, and implemented free SHS, a globally unprecedented feat in a country where most students are borders.
We industrialized like never before, from 1D, 1F and industrial parks to an emerging automotive sector that positions Ghana as a manufacturing hub of Africa’s single market. We expanded health infrastructure, re-fertilized agriculture, so boldly.
The STEM education agenda, we successfully rolled it out to equip our youth with skills for the jobs of tomorrow, thanks to Matthew Opoku-Prempeh and Dr Adutwum. We set Ghana on a reversible digitalization path, placing our nation at the forefront of promising digital economy and after.
Fellow veterans, rather than feeling sorry for ourselves, let us face the truth.
We took the hard, necessary decisions to save this economy, and now Muhammad’s government is taking propaganda credits, reaping where it has not sown, when they talk about resetting, where it is the so-called 24-hour economy, the gold board or anything else.
They are simply rebranding our achievements and marketing them as their own. Let no one be deceived, the foundation they are standing on was laid by this party, by our sacrifices, by our bold leadership in the face of crisis.
So no, this party has no reason to hang its head at all. In closing, I want to reiterate our theme, rebuilding together with our values.
It is a charge, it is a call to realign, to renew and to rise together, and we rise again in unity and in the enduring spirit of our party, our great NPP.
And I say to all of you, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil. Let us go back to our roots, let us rebuild with courage, let us reimagine our future, and let us reclaim the spirit that built this party, a spirit of sacrifice, of loyalty, of conviction.
We’ve done it before, we can do it again, and let it be that by the grace of God, we will.
God bless us all, God bless the NPP, and God bless our beloved nation Ghana. Thank you so much.
Thank you very much.
