Senior Advisor to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Anthony Karbo, holds the view that one would be mistaken if the New Patriotic Party’s defeat in the 2024 elections is placed entirely at the doorstep of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.
According to him, the defeat must be looked at holistically rather than apportioning blame solely on the former president. The former Deputy Roads and Highways Minister was speaking on Accra based Channel 1 TV when he made this known.
I won’t put that entirely on Akufo Addo, but I think that as a government, there are a couple of things that happened in the administration. There were certain policies that were completely obnoxious. For instance, e levy. Couldn’t the country have moved on without e levy, Karbo said.
He continued, I think it will be wrong for people to pigeonhole Bawumia and say that he lost because of Akufo Addo. I think that there were certain issues that happened within the government that didn’t sit well, first of all, with party people and also the Ghanaian people.
Karbo’s comments come amid intense debate within the NPP about the causes of the party’s historic defeat in December 2024, when former Vice President Bawumia secured less than 42 percent of valid votes cast while President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress garnered over 56 percent. The NPP also lost its parliamentary majority, with its seat count falling below 100 compared to 137 in the previous parliament.
Several party figures and analysts have attributed the loss to multiple factors. A poll conducted by Global InfoAnalytics found that about 68 percent of Ghanaians blamed Akufo Addo’s governance for the NPP’s defeat, citing economic mismanagement that affected livelihoods across the country. The survey also showed 40 percent blamed former Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, while 37 percent held Bawumia responsible for the loss.
Meanwhile, a fact finding report commissioned by the NPP revealed that 87 percent of respondents believed Akufo Addo was indifferent to public sentiments and concerns. The report noted that while his first term leadership was praised as responsive and effective, many respondents said his second term was marked by rigidity, vindictiveness and an unwillingness to reshuffle ministers, especially Ofori Atta. This, they said, weakened confidence in his leadership and contributed to the party’s electoral decline.
Another major factor identified was the perception of Bawumia as merely an extension of Akufo Addo. The report stated that 78 percent of respondents felt Bawumia’s association with the former president made it difficult for him to present himself as an independent leader, alienating many voters on the campaign trail.
Outgoing Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Andy Appiah Kubi, placed direct blame on Akufo Addo’s leadership decisions, particularly his refusal to heed calls from over 96 NPP Members of Parliament to dismiss Ofori Atta. He refused to listen to us, even when we saw the reality and tried to communicate it to him. He didn’t do enough to help Dr Bawumia, Appiah Kubi said in an interview on Joy News.
Member of Parliament elect for Gomoa Central, Kwame A Plus, described the 2024 election as a protest vote against Akufo Addo’s leadership. Akufo Addo caused Bawumia’s loss. The anger against him is the reason people voted against Bawumia. Why would you decide to tax sports betting? How can you take the little money people send to their mothers in the village, he said during an interview on Asempa FM.
Other party members including former MP for Obuasi East Edward Ennin pointed to corruption and alleged practices under Akufo Addo’s leadership as the cause of the defeat. Former Ashanti Regional Chairman aspirant Oheneba Kofi Adum Bawuah highlighted nepotism, cronyism and greed as hallmarks of the administration, while Subin MP Eugene Boakye Antwi accused the president and his family of fostering arrogance and internal discord within the party.
However, the NPP’s Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah, has rejected the Global InfoAnalytics survey, arguing that the Mike Oquaye fact finding report commissioned by the party does not blame Akufo Addo, Bawumia or Ofori Atta for the defeat.
Friends of Dr Bawumia, a pro NPP group, has also come to the former vice president’s defense amid accusations of disloyalty to Akufo Addo. In a statement signed by Kwaku Atta Sarpong, the group clarified that Bawumia did not at any point blame Akufo Addo for the party’s loss in the 2024 general elections. What Dr Bawumia did was refer to numerous independent studies and post election analyses that identified key factors that contributed to the party’s performance, the statement read.
The debate over the causes of defeat continues as the NPP prepares to elect its flagbearer on either January 30 or 31, 2026, for the 2028 general elections. Five candidates are contesting for the position, including Bawumia, former Assin Central MP Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, Abetifi MP and former Minister for Food and Agriculture Dr Bryan Acheampong, former Minister of Education Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and former NPP General Secretary Kwabena Agyei Agyepong.
Over 214,000 delegates are expected to participate in the internal election, which will be conducted across all 16 regions at 277 voting centers. The Chairman of the Presidential Elections Committee, Joe Osei Owusu, disclosed that polling stations have increased to 332 after centers with more than 1,000 delegates were split into two, each serving a maximum of 500 voters to promote efficiency and orderliness.
The outcome of the flagbearer race will likely shape how the party addresses the challenges identified in the post mortem of the 2024 defeat and positions itself for a comeback in 2028.
