Bawumia, Napo Steal Show At Manhyia

VICE PRESIDENT Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia and Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh aka ‘Napo’, the Energy Minister, were the toast of guests at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi on Sunday.

The two politicians, together with other stalwarts of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), were at the palace to join the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to mark the last ‘Akwasidae’ festival of the year, 2023.

But unknown to Messrs Bawumia and Prempeh, some NPP members and sympathizers in the Ashanti Region had created huge banners, displaying their pictures.

The huge posters had beautiful portraits of both Dr. Bawumia and Napo. It also had inscriptions that “This is the perfect combination for NPP victory 2024”.

The banners and posters were seen at every corner of the durbar grounds, a strong indication that the party members have confidence in the two personalities to lead the NPP to retain power in 2024.

Meanwhile, drama unfolded at the durbar grounds when Napo, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia South where Manhyia Palace is located, led Dr. Bawumia to pay homage to the Asantehene.

There were wild shouts of “Bawumia-Napo perfect combination for 2024” all over the durbar grounds when the two gentleman and other party bigwigs proceeded to Otumfuo to pay homage to him.

Interestingly, there were spontaneous shouts of the names of the Dr. Bawumia and Napo at the event grounds as if they had been rehearsed it. Even most of the Asante chiefs also joined the shouts.

As a reminder, Napo, has been heavily tipped by political experts to partner Dr. Bawumia as his running mate for the 2024 general elections, which is just one year away from now.

What transpired at the Manhyia Palace during the last Akwasidae festival is therefore a strong indication that the Ashanti Region, the NPPs stronghold, supports the Bawumia-Napo combination for election 2024.