Mussa Dankwah, Executive Director of Global InfoAnalytics, believes the New Patriotic Party (NPP) would have fared better in the 2024 general elections if they had chosen an akan candidate.
He explains that the NPP is primarily made up of Akans, hence any candidate from another tribe is regarded an alien.
Mussa Dankwa stated that during the polling period, their study revealed that former Assin Central congressman Kennedy Agyapong, an akan, was performing significantly better against the NDC’s John Mahama than Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was.
“The dynamics of NPP voters are primarily Akan; around 65% of the NPP base is Akan. You have an Akan basis, but your candidate is from another tribe; you will struggle to galvanise the Akan base.
“There are those that support the NPP because they are Akans, therefore giving the Akans what they perceive as alien does not drive them. When an Akan contender faces Mahama during the polling season, the gap narrows. Ken Agyapong was outperforming Bawumia in the campaign against Mahama, and the same was true for Alan Kyerematen.
Mussa Dankwah went on to say that it would be in the NPP’s best interests if their 2024 flagbearer, former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, would not compete for office again in the 2028 general elections.
Mussa Dankwa said that the baggage around Dr Bawumia, which resulted in the party’s unprecedented defeat in the 2024 elections, is structural, necessitating his resignation in order to allow for appropriate rebuilding.
According to the results announced by the Electoral Commission (EC) on Monday, December 9, National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate John Dramani Mahama received 6,328,397 votes, or 56.55% of all valid votes cast, defeating his primary rival, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who received 4,657,304 votes, or 41.61%.
Speaking on Metro TV’s God Evening Ghana program last Tuesday, Mussa Dankwah said, “It will be in the best interests of the NPP if Bawumia declares he will not run again on his own, not to be pushed. If he does, the NPP will be able to begin rebuilding the party earlier without him. Because the issues he raises are systemic.
Following the defeat, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) announced the formation of a committee in January 2025 to evaluate the party’s performance in the election.
During a news conference at the party’s headquarters, National Chairman Stephen Ayesu Ntim stated that the outcome was not as predicted.
“We were quite hopeful and positive, and our goal was to score a decisive victory at the polls. And we worked extremely hard at it. As a party, we worked hard during the campaign. I applaud all members of the party’s campaign teams, from polling stations to national level, for their exceptional performance in the race. There is no doubt that the election results were not what we had hoped for. We may not have won the battle, but we have not lost the war in our pursuit for a better Ghana, fashioned by the New Patriotic Party’s goals and ideas.
“In January 2025, the party will set up an effective and objective election review committee to conduct a post-mortem on the outcome of the election.”
