Dr. Jonathan Asante Otchere, a political science lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, has apportioned the cause of the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 general elections between President Akufo-Addo and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to him, a lot of things “went wrong” in the NPP’s eight-year mandate that led to its humiliating defeat, most of which he blames Akufo-Addo for.
Speaking on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Monday, December 23, 2024, Dr. Asante Otchere explained that President Akufo-Addo’s conduct in office alone contributed 60% to the defeat of the party, with the remaining being Dr. Bawumia’s fault.
“You remember the frame I used to use; he who the gods want to destroy, they first make mad. They will lead you to a path that you think that you’re on the right path and by the time you say jack, you’re in a ditch and that’s your destruction.
“The behaviour, conduct of the President in office, I’ll give him about 60%, give 40% to Dr. Bawumia, as the cause of the downfall of the NPP,” he explained.
He continued that the President’s lack of “appreciation of the value system that defines this country” is one of the “intangibles” that people consider “in taking a decision whether they want to vote for a party or not”, citing Akufo-Addo’s attitude towards the anti-gay bill which was a key concern for most Ghanaians.
“People are talking LGBT and you use the courts to obfuscate the issues, you go about beckoning chiefs to rise, now your daughter speaks on phone as the national anthem is being played, you behaved as if you never saw that, the video was out there,” he listed.
On Dr. Bawumia’s part, he said his failure to handle Ghana’s economy was his flaw, considering the fact that Akufo-Addo specifically said he was brought on because of his economic prowess.
“Generally, you can talk about the economy and this is where Dr. Bawumia comes into the picture. There is no way you’ll have to blame the president when it comes to the economy because the President gave an excuse, explanation, a caveat, why he picked Dr. Bawumia in the first place so if the economy is in shambles, what do you say? Bawumia must take the blame. He himself did not in any way led the party in the way that they should,” he added.
Dr. Asante Otchere’s comments follow the NPP’s announcement that it is going to set up a committee to investigate the factors that led to the party’s defeat in the just ended elections, handing the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) a two-thirds majority in parliament and a huge gap in the presidential race.
National Chairman of the party, Stephen Ayesu Ntim, revealed this in a press briefing on Monday, December 23, 2024.
He said the proposed Election Review Committee will engage party stakeholders and the general public to fish out the factors that contributed to the defeat. This, Mr. Ntim noted, will inform the party’s reforms to strengthen it for the future.
“The party will in January 2025 set up an effective and objective Election Review Committee to undertake a postmortem into the outcome of the election. The committee will engage all party stakeholders and the general public on the factors and circumstances leading to our defeat,” he stated.
The party Chairman added that one critical area the committee will examine would be whether to have a constitutional amendment to restructure the party’s internal decision-making, including the mode of electing presidential and parliamentary candidates, as well as party executives.
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