Bawumia Failed to Distance Himself from Akufo-Addo – Mussa Dankwah on Reasons for NPP’s Loss

Ghanaian pollster and Head of Research at Global Info Analytics, Mussa Dankwa, revealed Ghanaians squarely lay the blame for the NPP’s loss in the 2024 elections on former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Speaking in an interview with Joy News on Thursday, April 17, dealing with the major reasons for the NPP’s loss, Dankwah said the results of a poll asking Ghanaians the same questions saw the majority of respondents blaming Akufo-Addo for the NPP’s heavy defeat.

The poll results showed that 68% of Ghanaians blamed Nana Addo for the loss, followed with 40% blaming Ken Ofori-Atta. Former Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, was blamed by 37% of the electorate.

Dankwah said one major reason for the NPP’s loss was that the President’s unpopularity rubbed off on his Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, who could not prove himself to be different from Akufo-Addo.

“We asked voters which of the following candidates would hold the legacy of Akufo-Addo, and 78% of respondents said they believed Bawumia was going to maintain the legacy of Akufo-Addo,” Dankwah said. “People believed that he’s quite tied to Nana Addo in every respect and for that matter it was difficult for him to distance himself from Nana Addo. Even though he said he had his own vision, people didn’t see him making this argument strongly enough and for that matter he was tied at the hip with the former President.”

Dankwah delved into the question of the ex-President’s unpopularity and said the reasons mainly revolved around his failure to listen to people, including those in his own party, creating a groundswell of disaffection which affected the NPP’s ability to garner votes in 2024.

“People were shocked by the behaviour of the President… and also the attitude that he adopted in terms of not listening, even to his own party in terms of requests to remove certain people in government,” Dankwah said. “And obviously the behaviour towards the chiefs was really not going down well with people, and for that reason people felt that he must take personal responsibility for the loss.”

The survey was released to coincide with the NPP releasing their own report that details the reasons for the party’s loss. That report was presented at an emergency meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) held Wednesday, April 16th. The party has announced that the report’s findings will not be publicised.