A University of Ghana study of 889 party stakeholders says three in four expect the former Subin MP to take the NPP’s General Secretary seat on October 3.
Three weeks before the New Patriotic Party (NPP) picks its next National General Secretary, a study by lecturers at the University of Ghana, Legon, suggests that most party stakeholders already expect one man to win it.
The research, which covered 889 NPP stakeholders, found that 657 of them \u2014 74.2 per cent \u2014 named former Subin Member of Parliament Eugene Boakye Antwi as the candidate they expect to emerge victorious on October 3, 2026.
The incumbent General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, was named by 223 respondents, or 25.1 per cent. Six respondents, representing 0.7 per cent, mentioned Sylvester Tetteh.
What else the study measured
Beyond expectations, the team looked at who delegates actually prefer. On that question, 76.6 per cent picked Boakye Antwi, against 23.1 per cent for Kodua.
Asked which candidate could better position the party to win the 2028 general election, 60.1 per cent chose Boakye Antwi and 39.2 per cent chose Kodua \u2014 a narrower gap than on the other measures.
Name recognition was also tested. When respondents were asked to identify the candidates in the race, 82.7 per cent named Boakye Antwi, while 13 per cent named Kodua. Awareness that the General Secretary election is taking place at all stood at 100 per cent among those surveyed.
Respondents said the qualities they want in the next General Secretary include strong communication skills and boldness, the capacity to deliver victory in 2028, and the ability to hold the party together.
A caution from the researchers
The study was led by Dr Chris Atadika of the University of Ghana. His team was careful to note that the numbers capture what respondents expect and prefer, not a forecast of the result. In other words, this is a reading of mood inside the party, not a projection of votes.
That distinction matters in Ghanaian party contests, where the voting college is limited and delegates can shift late in the day. The researchers are expected to take journalists through the full findings at the Department of Political Science at Legon.
Why it matters
The General Secretary is the NPP's chief administrator, the officer who runs the party machine day to day and speaks for it on organisational matters. Whoever wins on October 3 will help shape how the party rebuilds and organises ahead of the 2028 general election.
For Ghanaians in the United States who follow party politics from a distance, the contest is an early signal of where the NPP's internal balance of power is heading after its time out of government \u2014 and of which faces will front its campaign machinery in the next cycle.
The election is scheduled for October 3, 2026.
Reported first by Ghanaian Times on 2026-09-17. This article was written for our readers based on that report. Follow the link for the original coverage.
