Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) stalwart, Yaw Buaben Asamoa says President Akufo-Addo has hijacked the party.

As the former Communications Director of the NPP, Mr Asamoa contends that the president's preferences now take precedence over the party's decisions, making individuals who fall out of favour with the president essentially "useless" within the party.

Speaking in an interview with Citi TV on Tuesday, November 21, the former Adentan MP expressed concern that the party had strayed from its original ideals.

Read also: Ghana’s interest is no longer important to the NPP – Buaben Asamoa

He highlighted the current lack of attractiveness of the party to its members, who, according to him, are hesitant to speak out against the perceived shift in control.

"The NPP that I knew in the beginning is not the NPP that exists now. The party has become divided by heavy factionalism. Essentially, it's become divided by the executive."

"The government has taken over. The personality of the president is overbearing, and he controls the party," Mr Asamoa stated.

According to Mr Asamoa, this dynamic is what currently characterizes the internal workings of the party.

“That means that if you don’t do the president’s [bidding], if you are not in the president’s good books, you are not useful to the party. That is the bottom line. That is what is happening.”

Mr Buaben Asamoa and three other prominent NPP members - Hopeson Adorye, Nana Ohene Ntow, and Boniface Abubakar Saddique - publicly endorsed and campaigned for independent presidential candidate Alan Kyerematen.

Subsequently, the NPP stated on Monday that the four individuals had forfeited their membership in the party for violating the party's constitution, specifically Articles 3(5)(A)(4) and 3(9)(1).

The NPP highlighted Article 3(9)(I) of its constitution, which stipulates that a member who stands as an independent candidate against the officially elected party member, or who joins or declares support for another political party or independent candidate when the party has sponsored a candidate in a general or by-election, automatically forfeits their membership in the party.