Akufo-Addo, The Economy And Shocks That Fuelled Bawumia-led NPP’s Devastating Ghana Election Loss
The New Patriotic Party's comprehensive election demands some soul-searching, but the answers lie in the pockets of Ghanaians.
Pollster Mussa Dankwah is being celebrated for his pretty accurate prediction of the New Patriotic Party’s decimation in the 2024 election, but even he was not immune to the shocks in the way it played out.
Foremost among the surprises was the voter turnout in the NPP stronghold of the Ashanti Region, currently under 65%, a drop from 83% in the 2020 election.
“The turnout was so much lower compared to elsewhere in the country, which for me was a huge shock,” said Dankwah.
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This manifested in the NPP getting only 63.96% of the vote, a massive drop off by the standards of its performance in the region. The governing party had been targeting up to 85% of the vote.
In surveys ahead of the election, Bawumia and the NPP were more likely to be affected by voter apathy, with 6% of his supporters considered to abstain from voting, as opposed to 1% for the NDC.
Dankwah, the Director of Global Infoanalytics, had also predicted a drop in turnout in the Ashanti Region, but not to this extent. This poor turnout also hurt NPP parliamentary candidates, with a number of strongholds like Adansi Asokwa falling to National Democratic Congress candidates.
"The number of seats the NDC won in Ashanti Region is quite big compared to our expectations," said Dankwah. "The number of seats that the NDC has taken is quite shocking and breathtaking to the extent that they have a two-thirds majority in Parliament.”
The election results, in which the NDC's John Mahama made a comeback to the presidency with a provisional victory over Bawumia by over 1.5 million votes, highlighted intense displeasure with the Akufo-Addo government.
“When people are dissatisfied, they tend to vote against the government and look for alternatives," noted governance analyst Ewald Garr. "The average Ghanaian found it difficult to make ends meet.”
The economy was once again the main issue on the minds of Ghanaians heading into the election.
Under Akufo-Addo's second term, many suffered through debt defaults, a weakening currency, high inflation and an eventual $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Wilberforce Mensah, a banker, witnessed the erosion of Ghanaians' pockets through the lens of the economy.
It manifested in low savings, reduced investments, and worse, the haircuts people suffered on their investments they thought were safe because of the domestic debt exchange.
The haircuts notably prompted protests from pensioners, including former chief justice Sophia Akuffo.
"People who worked their lives to save for the future, and with the bad governance, they came to erode everything," Mensah remarked.
People like Mensah suggested that Bawumia could have performed better in the election if it were not for the economic mismanagement and tone-deafness of the Akufo-Addo administration.
"My beef was not with Bawumia per se. It is really about how bad the country was being governed by Akufo-Addo, and I’m happy Ghanaians have taught them a bitter lesson about respecting people who put you in power."
Mahama's vow to rescue Ghana
During his victory acceptance speech, YEN.com.gh reported that Mahama urged Ghanaians to prepare for a difficult recovery.
The President-elect stressed that the task ahead to restore the economy was daunting and needed a collective effort of Ghanaians.
According to Mahama, who served as President before, Ghana was currently in an abyss created by Akufo-Addo's governance.
Proofread by Bruce Douglas, senior copy editor at YEN.com.gh
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Source: YEN.com.gh
