The New Patriotic Party (NPP) woefully lost election 2024 based principally on two main factors which were, the entrenched election traditions cum external shocks and own made militating actions.
It has appeared to have become an acceptable tradition in Ghana elections that since the reintroduction of multi-party democracy by late President Flt. Lt. J. J. Rawlings in the 4th Republic, political power has been rotating hands between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and NPP on 8-yearly basis.
Ghanaians seem to get fed up with the ruling party every 8 years hence vote for a change of government. Why they get fed up will be another topic for discussion on another day. NPP on 7 December 2024 had come to the end of their 8 years in power under President Nana Akufo-Addo hence had to obligatorily give way to NDC as demands the cyclical tradition.
There seem to have become another established tradition in the Ghanaian politics that a presidential candidate whom the election day coincides with their (his/her) day of birth, say, Monday, Tuesday, etc., always wins the election. Therefore, general election 2024 falling on a Saturday (7 December 2024), the day of the week on which Mr John Dramani Mahama was born, surely favoured his win. For further historical detail record of this, readers had better contact “blindman” Bulgaria or search to find him on YouTube discussing it.
There were these other militating external shocks, thus, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukraine war that came to exacerbate the economic situation of the country to worsen the living conditions of the Ghanaian. Many a politically non-savvy Ghanaian, doubling as illiterate or semi-literate, would not want to know but to blame the ruling NPP government for the economic hardship brought to bear upon them by the mentioned external shocks.
Having briefly dealt with the factors that NPP had no control over, let me tackle their own made mistakes that contributed to their historic humiliating defeat never witnessed in the annals of Ghana general elections.
Almost all, if not all, the NPP leaders, when voted into power, tend to steer clear of their friends, let alone, the very people or electorate by whose sweat or back they rode to power. Some may even talk so irresponsibly to their supporters and NPP foot soldiers, thinking tomorrow will never come for them to ever need their help again. Mr John Boadu, the NPP former General Secretary, was found to typify or exhibit this deplorable character that compelled me to publish about three articles to admonish him to refrain from that attitude amid casting him.
Why would you expect the people you so disrespect or ignore, when they need you most, to rally behind you when the table turns for you to need them?
The NPP believing in treating all Ghanaians equally, if possible, the adherents of the rule of law, fail to give any favour to their supporters. Unlike the NDC, they don’t know what “positive discrimination” is, to help bring their supporters who always get disadvantaged under NDC governments up to level with NDC supporters in terms of job acquisitions. Do you expect people you so disdainfully treat to rally solidly behind you in your great times of need? No!
The divisions within the NPP leaderships and their inability to resolve issues internally amicably. They are quick to come public to wash their dirty linen, put them up to dry on washing lines for all to see. Revealing your dirty secrets in public, do you expect the hearers and observers to vote for you? Sorry, you must be mad to expect favours from the public in such circumstances. You should rather expect to be punished! Exactly what happened to NPP at election 2024!
To be continued.
