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In an interview with Citi TV/FM journalist Umaru Sanda Amadu, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) running mate for the general election in 2024, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO) was seen in a widely shared video tongue-lashing him for not winning the Ashanti votes for the NPP in the recently concluded elections.
Saying it had a tribal undertone, the former Energy Minister swiftly denounced the remark as offensive and potentially offensive, likening it to a query about if Northerner Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP’s 2024 presidential contender, also received the votes from the north.
Has Bawumia, the Northerner, brought the votes from the North? “You can’t ask a question that doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Opoku Prempeh informed Umaru Sanda Amadu, who was questioning him in Parliament with Kafui Dey of Ghana Television (GTV) just hours before the 8th Parliament was dissolved on January 6, 2025.
NAPO, who was hailed as the answer to the NPP’s declining fortunes in the Ashanti Region prior to the 2024 elections, maintained that low turnout and subpar party results are national problems rather than regional or tribal ones. Additionally, he contended that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is also affected by this.
The party has lost, regardless of who is to blame, NAPO declared.
But Umaru responded, “You haven’t brought the Ashanti votes though,” which prompted NAPO to react angrily.
The Minister was irritated by the story, calling it baseless and tribally polarizing.
You might provoke someone to insult you if you ask that question again, so I hope you never do. There was no voting nationwide. It cost us 2.1 million votes. Is Ashanti the recipient? When I hear that, I feel compelled to make fun of the individual. Ashanti did not cast a ballot. In what way does that mean? Were votes brought by Volta Region?
Check out the NDC’s 2016–2020–2024 votes. and examine the ballots. Even in Accra’s Greater Area. The votes went to Mahama. A five percent increase over the previous election. Do not get on it; it is illogical. disparaging people and tribes. If you disagree, people will claim that the NDC is not assisting Voltarians and that we are turning this nation into a slippery slope.
The Ashanti Region, a typical NPP stronghold, had a voting turnout that was 65% higher than the national average of 60.4%, he said, adding that the fall in his party’s 2024 vote total of 2.1 million votes was a countrywide phenomena rather than exclusive to any one area.
“In fact, in Ashanti, 65% of the people turned up to vote. 65% person of the people on the register. There were four or five regions where the turnout was higher than Ashanti out of the 16 regions. The worst region of voter turnout was the Volta and Greater Accra Region; 46% or something. Let’s not tribalize things like that; and to say, did Bawumia bring the Northern votes? You can’t ask a question that doesn’t make sense in the sense that the whole country, the votes didn’t come. NPP lost. Check 2020 NPP got 6.7 million votes. In 2024, NPP dropped their votes to 4.5 million. That is shared around the whole country. That 2.1 million loss is shared around the whole country. Ashanti region being probably at that time, the most populous region vote-wise, but people should understand for a long time, the highest region for NDC votes is in the Ashanti Region”.
“When I hear somebody say Ashanti didn’t bring votes, I feel like insulting the person. What does that mean? Did the Volta Region bring votes for the NDC? These questions tribalize our politics unnecessarily,” he said.
“When NDC say they have a World Bank, the highest votes is in Ashanti Region”, he stated
Dr. Prempeh urged Ghanaians to move away from tribalized political arguments, cautioning that such narratives set a dangerous precedent.
He stressed the importance of analyzing national voter patterns rather than attributing election results to specific regions or ethnic groups.
“The party didn’t choose me because I was Ashanti. Let’s not reduce serious political issues to tribal considerations,” he stated firmly. However, this is not the truth, as Dr. Bawumia, had narrowed his search for a running mate to an Asante and had names such as Osei Kyei Mensah–Bonsu (former majority leader for parliament), Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum (education minister), Frema Osei Opare (Chief of staff) and Apostle Opoku Onyinah (former church of Pentecost chairman).
Bryan Acheampong (minister for agric) and Naa Torshie Addo were the outliers (district assembly common. Fund administrator) hailing from the Eastern Region and Greater Accra Register respectively.
NAPO, was picked with the full endorsement of the Asantehene, Otumfour Osei Tutu II on the claim that he is an Asante royal from the Manhyia; the seat of the Asante Kingdom.
He also got another prominent endorsement from ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor. Who although in a wheelchair, was seen moving from the campaign rally to campaign marketing the Bawumia-NAPO ticket to the electorates.
However, the NDC achieved a significant victory, with former President John Dramani Mahama securing the presidency polling 56.55% of the vote, while Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP candidate, got 41%. Bawumia conceded defeat on December 8, 2024, long before the Electoral Commission’s official announcement.
The NDC’s triumph extended to parliamentary elections, where they secured a two-thirds majority of the nation’s 276 seats, marking a substantial shift in Ghana’s political landscape.
Voter turnout was 60.9%, a notable decrease from the 79% turnout in the 2020 election, indicating a decline in voter engagement during this electoral cycle.
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