The running mate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 general election, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, says the NPP suffered the 2024 electoral defeat due to internal party challenges.
Speaking with Citi FM’s Umaru Sanda, the outgoing Energy Minister, popularly known as NAPO, pointed to long-standing governance issues within the party as a significant factor that hampered its performance at the polls.
He argued that the loss was not solely due to economic challenges, but was more deeply rooted in unresolved internal conflicts and organisational flaws within the giant NPP.
He disclosed that these governance issues have been a recurring problem for the party, citing past experiences where the NPP had learned valuable lessons from its mistakes.
“MPs were begging people to go and vote, but the voters refused,” he said. “That’s not about economic mismanagement; it’s about a deep-seated problem the party hasn’t addressed.”
He further explained, “You can’t imagine yourself to be a master of everything at all times. There are certain events that you may not be able to control, and they will hit you. It’s not just the NPP that has faced this.”
Remembering the history of the party, NAPO recalled the NPP’s struggles in 1992, when the party had zero representation in Parliament.
He noted, “The country and the party learned from that experience. In that year, after the presidential and parliamentary elections, the party lost and claimed the verdict was stolen. They decided to boycott Parliament, which was a party decision.”
NAPO continued, “However, that same party later met and agreed that they should not have boycotted Parliament. They realised that it was better for us to engage with the few seats we won rather than boycott. The party changed, and as a result, the country changed too.”
The outgoing NPP government failed in its bid for a third consecutive term in the December 7, 2024, general election.
The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) secured a decisive victory, giving former president John Mahama a return to the presidency.