Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 presidential candidate, has blamed the party’s loss in the general elections of 2024 on a number of issues, including the party’s conceit, the high cost of living, the introduction of the E-Levy, the controversial haircut policy, and the failure to reshuffle government officials.
He claimed that many Ghanaians were hurting as a result of these issues, especially during the IMF debt restructuring program. These statements were given by Dr. Bawumia during the opening of his nationwide Thank You Tour at Takoradi Technical University’s auditorium.
In response to allegations that his alleged religious ties were the only reason the party lost, Dr. Bawumia stressed that internal conflict and a large number of unfinished projects were also major factors in the NPP’s failure.
“When you study all the reports we have so far, certain factors were highlighted. These include the high cost of living; the prices of goods and services went up and left many Ghanaians struggling. Another factor that was highlighted is the arrogance of power, we were not willing to listen.
“The party members told us to conduct a reshuffle, but after eight years we didn’t listen. The party members told us they didn’t want E-levy, but we implemented it. Again, the party members told us that the DDEP was going to be a major challenge but we went ahead to implement it.
“Things were bad, and we were not able to pay NABCO, those employed under youth and afforestation, caterers and others were also not being paid,” he explained.
According to Dr. Bawumia, “Even in the regions that give us some vote, we didn’t put in a lot of work there.” He also mentioned the absence of successful campaigning in important areas.
The Western Region serves as an illustration. He also emphasized that the party’s campaign efforts were undermined by internal division, which allowed the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to take advantage of their mistakes.
“So, going into the 2024 general election, the NPP as a party was not fully united. The opposition at the time, the NDC, even though didn’t have a campaign message, was playing back our language against each other back to us. That is why it is important that as we go about with our campaign, you don’t bring down your opponent so that you can win,” he stated.