By, Alexander Kukah
KUMASI — The battle for control of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Ashanti Region has entered its decisive phase, with former Afigya Kwabre South Constituency Chairman Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, popularly known as COKA, and former Bantama MP and former Environmental Protection Authority Chief Executive Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu emerging as the two contenders for the regional chairmanship.
The contest is being watched closely because it is more than a routine change of regional executives. It marks the first major test of the NPP’s political direction in Ashanti without Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, seeking another term at the regional level.
Wontumi has been the dominant figure in Ashanti regional NPP politics for more than a decade. He first became regional chairman in 2014 and retained the position in 2018 and 2022. At the 2022 election, he defeated COKA by 464 votes to 306.
This time, however, the old contest has been reset.
Wontumi is no longer on the regional ballot, leaving delegates to decide who inherits the organisational machinery, political influence and enormous expectations attached to the chairmanship of the NPP’s traditional stronghold.
COKA’s second chance
COKA enters the race with something that cannot easily be bought during a campaign: history with the delegates.
His 2022 challenge against Wontumi demonstrated that he already possessed a substantial support base. He had also spent close to two decades as constituency chairman of Afigya Kwabre South, giving him extensive experience at the grassroots.
His message this time is straightforward: the party needs to rebuild from the grassroots and reclaim the parliamentary seats it lost in the 2024 general election.
COKA has consequently projected himself as a continuity candidate of party organisation rather than simply a candidate of political status.
He has been emphatic about his prospects, publicly predicting victory and insisting that his years of service give him the advantage.
But confidence is one thing. Delegate arithmetic is another.
Kokofu’s challenge
Kokofu brings a different political proposition.
The former Bantama legislator and EPA boss entered the race arguing that the Ashanti NPP needs urgent reconstruction following its disappointing performance in the 2024 elections. He has described the regional party as being in a precarious position and says the next chairman must unite the party and restore its electoral strength.
That argument gives Kokofu an opening.
For delegates who believe the party needs a change not only in personnel but also in political strategy, his national political and administrative experience could be attractive.
His campaign therefore represents the clearest alternative to the COKA model.
The Wontumi question
Yet the biggest unseen player in this election may be the man whose name is not on the ballot.
Wontumi’s influence cannot simply disappear because he is not contesting the regional chairmanship. Indeed, the day before the election, Ashanti constituency chairmen announced a night vigil in his honour, describing his tenure as an unprecedented period of leadership in the region.
The question, therefore, is not merely who can defeat whom?
It is where does the Wontumi political establishment go?
If a substantial section of the existing constituency structure and Wontumi-aligned delegates gravitates towards COKA, the former constituency chairman could convert his previous 306-vote showing into a winning coalition.
If, however, Kokofu succeeds in attracting delegates seeking a fresh political direction while also drawing support from elements of the old establishment, the race could become considerably tighter.
Changing Ashanti political landscape
The stakes are particularly high because Ashanti is no longer the seemingly impregnable electoral fortress it once was for the NPP.
The 2024 defeat exposed vulnerabilities that the new regional leadership will be expected to address before 2028. The party therefore needs a chairman capable not merely of winning an internal election but of rebuilding constituency structures, managing competing factions and restoring confidence among supporters.
That makes the chairmanship potentially one of the most consequential regional positions in the NPP’s current reorganisation.
The party has cleared 34 aspirants for the various regional executive positions, with two candidates contesting the chairmanship. The regional elections are scheduled for August 16 at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, according to the Regional Elections Committee.
The ballot positions have also been settled: COKA drew No. 1, while Kokofu drew No. 2.
Who has the edge?
On the available evidence, COKA appears to have a slight advantage, but this is not a safe prediction.
His previous performance against Wontumi provides a useful baseline. He already demonstrated the capacity to mobilise hundreds of delegates against a sitting chairman who possessed enormous influence. With Wontumi now absent from the contest, COKA begins with an obvious argument: the votes that once challenged Wontumi do not have to start from zero.
Kokofu, however, has disrupted what might otherwise have been a relatively straightforward succession.
Reports of grassroots groups endorsing Kokofu indicate that there is an appetite within sections of the party for his leadership.
The race consequently looks less like a coronation and more like a test of two competing ideas of the Ashanti NPP.
COKA offers deep grassroots experience and continuity with the party’s constituency structure.
Kokofu offers administrative experience and a reconstruction narrative after the 2024 setback.
The verdict
If the election were being decided today purely on visible grassroots strength and COKA’s previous delegate performance, COKA would be my marginal favourite.
But I would not expect the kind of overwhelming victory he has publicly predicted. His claim of winning with 90 per cent of the vote should be treated as campaign confidence rather than a reliable measure of delegate sentiment.
My current assessment is approximately:
COKA — 60%
Kokofu — 40%
The decisive factor could ultimately be neither candidate’s public campaign nor media presence. It will be the quiet negotiations among constituency executives and delegates in the final hours.
And that is why the Ashanti contest deserves attention.
For the first time in years, the question is not “Can anyone beat Wontumi?”
It is:
“Who can build the next Ashanti NPP after Wontumi?”
On balance, COKA currently has the better chance of supplying that answer.