The Deputy Communications Officer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Ernest Owusu Bempah, has claimed that over two million members of the party chose not to vote in the 2024 general elections due to what he described as the presentation of the wrong presidential candidate.
Speaking in an interview on Oyerepa TV, Mr Owusu Bempah, who served as Communications Director for Ghana Gas during the Akufo-Addo administration, stated that the party’s decision to field the then Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, as the candidate for the 2024 elections was a major factor in the disappointing voter turnout among its members.
According to him, many NPP supporters felt disillusioned by the leadership’s choice, leading them to abstain from voting.
“For the first time, I met a taxi driver who is a member of NPP who told me that he voted for the NDC in the 2024 election, he showed me his party card, and the reason is that we didn’t take the right candidate for him to come and vote for” he claimed.
Without providing any scientific data to back his claim, he stated that as many as 2.1 million NPP members abstained from voting because they did not approve of the Presidential candidate.
“Go down there with a hidden camera and ask the ordinary people why they refused to vote. 2.1 million decided not to go and vote, 2.1 million, do you think it is a joke? NPP party base, supporters refused to vote, do you know what that means?” he argued.
Owusu Bempah did not hold back in his critique of the leadership’s selection process. He suggested that the failure to listen to party members and incorporate their views into candidate selection contributed to the low turnout.
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He emphasised that “Let Prof Mike Oquaye’s Committee bring out their report and that is where we will hear things.”
His comments come as the NPP looks ahead to rebuilding its support base and re-engaging with its membership after what many view as a poor performance in the 2024 polls.
Party leaders are expected to review the election results and assess how to rebuild and reposition the party for the future through Prof Mike Oquaye’s Committee, a committee assigned to study the elections and give recommendations.
Read Also: You can’t blame Bawumia for NPP’s 2024 defeat – Adwoa Safo
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