New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Team member, Bernard Owiredu Donkor has declared his intention to contest the party’s parliamentary primary in Akwatia, saying the party cannot afford to “experiment” with its candidate ahead of the 2028 general elections.
The private legal practitioner and native of Akwatia said the NPP needed a candidate capable of reclaiming the constituency seat from the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He made the declaration on Sunday, November 1, 2026, during an interview on the sidelines of the party’s Thanksgiving Service and Mini Conference/Rally in the constituency.
“I have already confirmed my interest. When you look at the 2028 election that we are going into, we are not going to experiment.
We experimented in the by-election but that did not work.
Now we need a candidate who will capture the seat for us and become our representative in Parliament,” he said.
Mr Owiredu Donkor disclosed that he supported the NPP’s candidate, Solomon Kwame Asumadu, during the 2025 Akwatia parliamentary by-election.
However, he maintained that the party must now select a candidate capable of winning the seat back from the NDC.
He said he would formally register his interest through the party’s online expression-of-interest portal, which opened on November 1, 2026.
The NPP has set November 10, 2026, as the deadline for prospective parliamentary candidates to submit their expressions of interest ahead of the party’s parliamentary primary.
The Akwatia parliamentary seat became vacant following the death of the NPP’s Ernest Yaw Kumi in July 2025.
At the September 2, 2025 by-election, the NDC’s Bernard Bediako Baidoo defeated Mr Asumadu to win the seat.
Mr Bediako polled 18,199 votes, while Mr Asumadu secured 15,235 votes.
Mr Owiredu Donkor also referred to seniority at the Bar, describing Mr Bediako as his junior colleague in the legal profession.
He suggested that the incumbent MP should cede the seat to him in the 2028 elections, after which the two could work together to advance the development of Akwatia.
