Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, popularly known as Chairman COKA, has pledged that a future NPP administration would place youth empowerment and employment creation among its major priorities.
Speaking during a thanksgiving tour by the newly elected Ashanti Regional executives of the party at churches in the region, Mr Appiah also accused the governing National Democratic Congress of falling short of its commitments to provide employment opportunities for Ghana’s young people.
The engagement formed part of activities following the NPP’s August 2026 regional executive elections, in which Mr Appiah was elected Ashanti Regional Chairman. He secured 658 votes out of 927 valid votes cast, defeating his sole challenger, Dr Henry Kwabena Kokofu, who obtained 269 votes.
Mr Appiah used the church engagements to outline issues he said would receive attention under a future NPP administration while also appealing for prayers and support for the party ahead of the 2028 general election.
He expressed confidence in Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s prospects of becoming the party’s presidential candidate and eventually serving as President, while calling on churches to pray for the NPP as it prepares for the next national election. His remarks were made in the context of the party’s ongoing internal reorganisation and preparations for 2028.
A central issue raised by the Ashanti Regional Chairman was employment for the country’s youth. He said a future NPP government would place greater emphasis on creating opportunities that enable young people to secure jobs and improve their economic prospects.
Mr Appiah also raised concerns about what he described as restrictions on the expression of views on national matters. He alleged that citizens were increasingly facing arrest over opinions they expressed and said a future NPP administration would protect freedom of expression.
“If you express your view in Ghana today and you are not careful, the next thing is you will be arrested. We no longer have the right to express our views freely,” he said.
His comments come as the NPP’s newly elected regional leadership begins its organisational work ahead of the 2028 general election. The regional executives were elected in August as part of the party’s nationwide reorganisation, with the new leadership expected to strengthen grassroots structures and coordinate mobilisation activities in the Ashanti Region.
The Ashanti Regional Chairman also turned his attention to the Computerised School Selection and Placement System and criticised what he described as difficulties confronting some Junior High School graduates seeking admission to second cycle institutions.
He claimed that some students who had completed Junior High School were still at home because they had not secured placement and contrasted the current situation with what he described as the NPP’s management of the placement system during its eight years in office.
“Today many of our children who completed junior high school are still home because they didn’t get admission. Something the NPP handled well in eight years. I want to assure you that the next NPP government under Dr Bawumia, this issue will not happen again,” he stated.
Official figures from the 2026 placement exercise, however, show that the situation involves both candidates who received automatic placement and those who remained unplaced after the initial exercise. The Ghana Education Service and Ministry of Education reported on September 7 that 527,932 candidates, representing 87.3 percent of the 604,567 qualified candidates, had secured placement into Senior High Schools, Senior High Technical Schools and technical and vocational institutions. A further 76,635 qualified candidates had not been automatically placed, largely because of high demand for Category A schools.
The official Computerised School Selection and Placement System also provides a self placement process through which candidates who were not automatically placed can select schools and programmes with available vacancies.
Mr Appiah’s comments come against the backdrop of an increasingly active NPP reorganisation programme in the Ashanti Region. Since assuming office, the new regional leadership has moved to establish specialised working committees covering areas including law, academia, business, health and public administration as part of efforts to strengthen the party’s organisational and campaign structures ahead of 2028.
The thanksgiving engagements therefore provided the newly elected regional executives with an opportunity to interact with religious communities while outlining the political priorities they intend to advance as the party prepares for the next general election.
