Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science and Research Fellow at the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana has criticised the timing and messaging of the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s ongoing ‘Thank You Tour’ following their defeat in the 2024 general elections.
According to Professor Alidu Seidu, the focus of the tour should have been less on recounting the reasons for the party’s loss and more on presenting solutions and a clear path forward.
“The ‘Thank You Tour’ at this time is not the most appropriate. I was expecting an internal consensus on the right strategy. When you go to the people, you shouldn’t just tell them why you lost — you should tell them what you are going to do to fix it,” he said in an interview on JoyNews‘ The Probe on Sunday, April 27.
His comments follow Dr. Bawumia’s recent remarks during the tour, where the NPP flagbearer attributed the party’s electoral loss to a combination of factors, including the arrogance of power, the high cost of living, the failure to reshuffle government officials, the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy), and the unpopular “haircut” policy implemented during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) debt restructuring programme.
Dr. Bawumia acknowledged that these issues had plunged many Ghanaians into severe economic hardship, which contributed to the NPP’s defeat.
However, Prof Seidu stressed that the message needed to be ‘solution-driven’, aimed at inviting grassroots stakeholders to participate in the reconciliation and rebuilding process.
“This would create buy-in from the grassroots and help them feel a sense of ownership over the party’s recovery efforts,” Prof. Seidu added.
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