Albert Kan-Dapaah Jnr and Kofi Mocumbi Tagoe join NPP Ablekuma West primary race

The race for the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary candidacy in Ablekuma West is gathering momentum, with Albert Kan-Dapaah Jnr and former Tema Oil Refinery Managing Director Kofi Mocumbi Tagoe joining the contest.

The two have submitted Expressions of Interest to contest the party’s parliamentary primary, according to party sources, adding to a growing list of aspirants seeking to lead the NPP’s bid to reclaim the constituency.

Mr Kan-Dapaah Jnr, a career Foreign Service officer currently on secondment to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, is making another attempt at securing the party’s ticket. He previously contested the Ablekuma West primary in 2020 against incumbent Ursula Owusu-Ekuful but lost the nomination.

During that contest, he questioned the incumbent’s electoral appeal in the constituency, arguing that she was “not a marketable commodity in this constituency”. Mrs Owusu-Ekuful subsequently retained the party’s candidacy.

Mr Tagoe, popularly known as Fiifi Tagoe, brings experience from the financial and corporate sectors. He was appointed Managing Director of the Tema Oil Refinery in 2024 under the Akufo-Addo administration. He has also held senior positions at ERA 53 Limited, Nutso Products Limited, Sprint, American Express, Fidelity & Trust Bank and Wells Fargo.

An investment banker with more than two decades of experience, Mr Tagoe holds a BSc in Computer Engineering from Lincoln University and an MSc in Finance from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

The two join Roni Kwesi Nicol and Kow Abaka Essuman, who have publicly declared their interest in the race. Their entry sets the stage for a competitive contest as the NPP seeks to regain a seat it held for three consecutive terms under Mrs Owusu-Ekuful.

The party lost the constituency to the National Democratic Congress in the 2024 general election, when its candidate secured 26,575 votes against Kweku Addo’s 31,866.

The developments come amid an October 11, 2026 directive from the NPP instructing prospective parliamentary aspirants to suspend campaign activities until the party releases its timetable and guidelines for the primaries.

Although the party has yet to publish the timetable, the growing number of interested candidates signals an emerging contest over who will represent the NPP in its effort to recapture Ablekuma West.