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Former Vice President and 2024 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has attributed his electoral defeat not only to strategic lapses but also to what he describes as a deep-seated trend in Ghanaian voting behaviour — a national reluctance to elect first-time presidential candidates.
Speaking to members of the Young Executive Forum (YEF) in London as part of his post-election Thank You Tour, Dr Bawumia made a striking observation:
“If you look at our political history, our political history suggests that it is usually very difficult for a first-time presidential candidate to win an election in Ghana. I don’t know why that is, but Ghanaians want you to come more than once. That seems to be what is prevailing.”
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His comments come months after the NPP suffered a major defeat in both the presidential and parliamentary elections. Dr Bawumia lost to former President John Mahama, who staged a political comeback to win with 56.55% of the vote. The NDC also took control of Parliament with 183 seats, leaving the NPP with 88.
Dr Bawumia suggested that Ghana’s political culture tends to favour perseverance and repeated candidacy — a trend he intends to lean into ahead of the 2028 elections.
“I’m very, very optimistic about 2028,” he said. “I believe that in 2028, NPP is going to come back into government.”
He backed his claim with examples from Ghana’s democratic past.
“John Agyekum Kufuor came back after 1996 and won in 2000. John Evans Atta Mills contested in 2000, 2004 and won in 2008. Nana Akufo-Addo went three times before he won.”
According to Bawumia, even John Mahama’s victory in 2012 was more of a “sympathy vote” than a defiance of the pattern.
“Mahama’s one was an aberration,” he said. “In 2012, we were preparing to face President Mills, but his sudden death turned the election into a national mourning. The NDC played funeral songs, had angels on TV… we couldn’t even mount a proper campaign. We just sat there.”
Despite the defeat, Dr Bawumia offered a public apology on behalf of the NPP.
“We did a lot of work; there’s no doubt about that. But we did not get everything right. We got quite a few things wrong. On my own behalf, and on behalf of the party, I apologise for not getting the things right that we should have.”
Looking forward, he believes the NPP will benefit from being the more experienced side come 2028, especially as the NDC may be forced to present a fresh face after Mahama’s exit.
“There’s a sense that in 2028, NDC is going to bring a new candidate. I believe we will have an advantage, all things being equal, over that new candidate.”
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