Outgoing Member of Parliament for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has expressed frustration over the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) failure to adequately respond to the corruption and state capture accusations leveled against government officials by North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
According to Antwi, the lack of a strong counter-response contributed to the party’s poor showing in the 2024 general elections.
In a discussion on the Good Morning Ghana show on Thursday, December 12, Antwi questioned why the NPP did not address the persistent allegations made by the minority MP. “Okudzeto is a minority MP, he is doing these dawn broadcasts against our party and we don’t respond to them?” he asked. When the show’s host pointed out that the party did not have a response, Antwi countered, “But why didn’t you have a response? So the middle classes in our country were hoodwinked or bought into what Okudzeto was doing and punished us.”
He added that the revelations, particularly those made by Ablakwa, played a significant role in influencing voters, especially among the middle class, leading to a loss of confidence in the NPP.
Further attributing the NPP’s defeat to voter apathy, Nana Akomea, the Managing Director of the State Transport Corporation (STC), also weighed in on the matter. Speaking on Peace FM’s Kokorokoo, Akomea stated that nearly 2 million NPP supporters who voted in 2020 chose not to participate in the 2024 elections. He observed that while President-elect John Dramani Mahama’s vote count remained consistent with his 2020 result, the NPP’s vote share dropped significantly. “The same 6.3 million votes he had in 2020, that was the same result he had in 2024. If you look at the NPP’s vote, from 6.7 million in 2020, it dropped to 4.6 million,” Akomea explained, noting the stark difference of about 2 million missing voters.
The Electoral Commission’s certified presidential results confirmed this drop in voter turnout, revealing that more than 2 million NPP supporters from the 2020 election did not cast their ballots in 2024. In 2020, President Akufo-Addo received 6.7 million votes, securing 51.3% of the total vote. In contrast, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP’s 2024 candidate, garnered just over 4.6 million votes, amounting to 41.6% of the total votes cast.
The significant dip in voter participation and the failure to effectively counter allegations of corruption appear to have been key factors contributing to the NPP’s loss in the 2024 elections.
