Political scientist, Dr Kwame Asah-Asante, says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) must choose a presidential candidate who combines competence with popularity if it hopes to win the 2028 general elections.

Speaking on JoyNews as the NPP considers its flagbearer for the next election cycle, Dr Asah-Asante said the party’s recent electoral record makes it clear that a different approach is needed.

“I think they’re looking for competence. Competence is one,” he said. According to him, the party needs “somebody who has what it takes to deliver the public good.”

He explained that the NPP’s performance in recent years has not worked in its favour. “If you look at their record, the last ten years, it didn’t work well for them,” he said.

“So this time around, you want somebody who comes into office and will be able to turn the tables around.”

Dr Asah-Asante added that the candidate must also have “less political baggage”. He warned that candidates with many past controversies could become a liability.

“If you open yourself up to somebody with a lot of baggage, I’m afraid it’s going to serve as raw material for message development and attack on the party. So you want to gauge that very carefully.”

He said delegates would also look closely at the candidate’s background and support base. “You want somebody who has constituencies,” he explained.

He pointed to factors such as region of origin, professional background, gender and religion, noting that although religion may not play a major role, “we are talking about a game of numbers, so numbers are important.”

Dr Asah-Asante stressed that popularity remains a key consideration. “Of course, you want somebody who is popular,” he said. “So that when you want to market him, you wouldn’t have a problem.”

However, he was quick to caution that popularity alone is not enough. “The fact that you are popular doesn’t make you efficient,” he said. Still, he admitted that popularity matters because “you need somebody that you don’t struggle to market” and who is known “in the nook and cranny of the country”.

He said this is why competence must come first. “You tie the popularity with competence,” he stated.

Dr Asah-Asante also reminded the party of a key finding from its own post-election report. He said about 1.7 million NPP supporters failed to vote in the last election.

“You want somebody that will be able to attract all these people back and then they vote for the party,” he said. “You want to get those people voting for you.”

Looking beyond the party, he said the chosen candidate must also be ready for the demands of national leadership. “If you win this election, you are not just the leader of the NPP or the flagbearer, you are going into national elections.”

According to him, the candidate must understand Ghana’s problems and offer clear solutions. “We are looking at somebody who has his eyes on the problems of this country as well as solutions to deal with our numerous problems,” he said.

He noted that all the aspirants have shared ideas that show some understanding of national issues, which makes the choice difficult. He said that research must guide campaign messages, saying decisions should be based on data from constituencies, regions, and national trends.

“If you have done research and picked data on the ground, you speak from a position of authority,” he said.

Dr Asah-Asante said the party needs a candidate who genuinely wants power and has a clear plan to win. “You want somebody who is desperately looking for power,” he said, adding that such a person must have “strategy, message, and resources” to succeed.