Former Vice President and 2024 flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu BawumiaFormer Vice President and 2024 flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has dismissed claims that his religion contributed to the party’s defeat in the 2024 general elections.
He argued that Ghanaians would not reject a candidate solely based on their religious background, insisting that suggestions linking the NPP’s loss to his Muslim faith lack merit and are not supported by data.
Speaking at the start of the party’s post-election Thank You tour at its headquarters in Accra on Wednesday, April 23, Dr. Bawumia pointed to his overwhelming victory in the party’s internal presidential primaries as proof.
“When we finished the election, there were so many people giving different reasons for why we lost. But people were speaking without data. One of the reasons people offered was that they didn’t vote for us because our presidential candidate was Muslim.
“When I heard that, I said, this doesn’t make sense. This is not the Ghana that I know. We went for primaries with 10 contestants—I was the only Muslim among nine Christians, but the NPP still voted for the Muslim candidate,” he said.
The NPP, which contested the 2024 polls with the aim of breaking the 8-year cycle of governance, lost by over 1.7 million votes to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama.
From holding 137 seats in Parliament, the party’s representation dropped to 88 seats—losing nearly 50 to the now-ruling NDC, which commands almost a two-thirds majority in the House.
Meanwhile, Dr. Bawumia observed that while the NPP’s votes declined by 2.1 million compared to 2020, President Mahama gained only a little over one hundred thousand votes.
He emphasised that the party could bounce back if it reconnects with its grassroots supporters.
