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 again ahead of the 2028 general elections.

The private legal practitioner and Akwatia native said the NPP needed a candidate capable of reclaiming the 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 said he supported the NPP’s candidate, Solomon Kwame Asumadu, during the 2025 Akwatia parliamentary by-election. However, he said the party must now settle on a candidate who can win the seat back from the NDC.

He said he would formally register his interest through the NPP’s online expression-of-interest portal, which opened on November 1, 2026.

The party has set November 10, 2026, as the deadline for prospective parliamentary candidates to submit their expressions of interest ahead of the parliamentary primaries.

The Akwatia 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 against Mr Asumadu’s 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 Mr Bediako should cede the seat to him in 2028, after which the two could work towards advancing the development of Akwatia.