Betty Mould Iddrisu, a former Attorney-General in the erstwhile John Mills’ administration, is challenging an assertion by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema-Osei Opare, that the Ashanti region will deliver votes for the NPP in the coming elections.
Madam Iddrisu claims that the tables have turned in the favour of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which has long seen the Ashanti region as its bread basket in terms of votes.
The Ashanti region has voted massively for the NPP over the years, making the region being termed as the ‘World Bank’ of the party. In 1996, the NPP had 65.8 per cent of presidential votes from the region as against 32.8 per cent for the NDC. The numbers increased to 70 plus per cent even to the 2020 elections where the NPP had 71 per cent votes for President Akufo-Addo, the current President as against 26 per cent for John Mahama.
Betty Mould Iddrisu’s comments follow a statement by the Chief of Staff during an interaction with Journalists in the Ashanti region that people of the Ashanti Region loved the NPP and will help the party ‘break the 8’.
“The love for the party is so supreme that people were willing to come together to put Ashanti forward and become the biggest contributors to breaking the 8. They will give us the numbers, it is possible, we will break the 8,” Madam Frema Opare said.
She further said that “Dr Bawumia will win the elections, and we shall break the 8.” That interaction was during the inauguration of the Ashanti Region NPP campaign team in March 2024.
But, it appears the opponent may have some other facts that the Chief of Staff may not have access to. The former A-G who was rumoured to be a running for John Mahama says the facts on the grounds now favours the NDC.
“I’m on the grounds. It’s what I know. It’s what I see. It’s what I’m part of….my area of politics is in the Ashanti Region and there’s been a dramatic turn around in the favour of the NDC because they’ve seen how they are living…they’ve realized that one village, one this, one that, …they’ve realized that it’s all talk….they’ve realized that John Dramani Mahama was set up to be vilified,” she indicated.
Madam Iddrisu went on to add that she was confident that John Mahama would rather win the 2024 elections.
It’s about eight months to the country’s general election and the NDC and NPP are battling it out. They both want to capture votes especially in the determinant regions and it seems the politics have intensified to get the best from the regions.
By Beatrice Claire Abena Adu
