Paul Abdul Rahman Issah Dowuona, the Communications Director of Kwabena Agyepong’s campaign team, has said the former General Secretary is against the party’s GH₵4 million development fee.
According to Paul Abdul Rahman Issah Dowuona, despite controversy surrounding the payment of the GH₵4 million development fee, Kwabena Agyepong is still in the race.
He emphasised that the GH₵4 million development fee should not be a prerequisite for contesting the party’s flagbearership.
Speaking on Channel One TV, Paul Abdul Rahman Issah Dowuona stated, “The issue regarding this GH₵4 million payment — he has made it clear that in principle he is against it. The party has made its point, and they are saying that they have to pay that amount.
At vetting, he was asked, and he made his position clear, and even at the vetting, he committed that if it were about a development fee, he would commit to contribute substantially to the development of the party when the need arises. His issue has always been that it shouldn’t be a prerequisite for contesting the flagbearership of the party.”
He further added, “Whatever it is, we are dealing with it internally, and so as far as you have not heard anything from the party officially that he has been taken out of the flagbearership race, it means that we are still in it. We are not going to make a view and cry about it in public. Whatever the issue, we will litigate and place it in the internal mechanism of the party”.
“As it stands, take it from me, as the director of communication, that we are still in the race. Tomorrow, God willing, we are going to go for our balloting,” he indicated.
Meanwhile, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Flagbearer aspirants will today, Friday, October 10, 2025, ballot for their positions on the ballot paper ahead of the presidential primary on January 31, 2026.
The NPP’s National Elections Committee is expected to meet the five aspirants or their representatives at the party’s headquarters in Accra.
According to the Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Haruna Mohammed, balloting would be held for all aspirants.
Haruna Mohammed, on Thursday, October 9, 2025, stated, “All candidates who have met the guidelines, as issued on July 29, and complied with them, will be balloting today. Nobody is going to be excused from any specific guideline of the party”.
“These guidelines are grounded in the constitution, and every member who wants to lead the party into the 2028 elections must abide by it,” he added.
Meanwhile, Samuel Atta Akyea, a former Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, has stated that any New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer aspirant who cannot raise the party’s development fee of GH¢4million is not even influential.
According to him, any aspirant who struggles to pay the party’s development fee is not fit to contest for the presidency.
Atta Akyea emphasised that a candidate’s inability to pay the GH¢4 million fee is a sign of a lack of influence and credibility.
Speaking in an interview on TV3 on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, Atta Akyea stated, “If you are in opposition, you will raise money, so it is a sensible way to raise money.
If a man says he is credible and people should vote for him as a flagbearer, and he can’t raise GH¢4 million, that means he doesn’t count; he is not even influential. Who is telling you that you are the one going to pay the money?” he said.
The NPP’s GH¢4 million development fee on presidential aspirants has sparked widespread criticism and raised questions about the party’s democratic principles.