Freddie Blay
Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, has reaffirmed his support for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as flagbearer of the opposition party, despite the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 elections.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on Asaasepa Radio on Monday, he said though the ultimate decision would be determined largely by the delegates, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in his view, is still the best choice to lead the party in the 2028 elections.
“I think Dr. Bawumia’s leadership is good, he will do very well, in terms of managing the economy and governance. I think I will put my bet behind him. Bawumia ticket is good, it was good in 2024 and it’s still good today, I still believe in Bawumia ticket.
“I think we didn’t galvanise our people well and things went haywire, and that is why we didn’t win. I still have faith in him, and I think that if we do our reorganisation very well, this time it will be easier for us to win,” he stated.
He stressed that Ghana is a secular state, and religious beliefs and affiliations have never played a role in the selection of presidential candidates and, therefore, refuted claims by some section of the public that Dr. Bawumia’s religious affiliation contributed to the party’s defeat in the 2024 elections.
According to Freddie Blay, the party lost the 2024 elections due to several factors, including voter apathy.
He mentioned that although the party acknowledged the challenges, it was better for the members to retain the NPP in government, given its track record under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo, who performed better compared to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, which has just recently shown signs it cannot do anything better as promised.
He, therefore, appealed to members of the party to exercise restraint and desist from blaming any individual for the party’s defeat, but rather work to reunite as a family, and reorganise to recapture power in the 2028 elections.
“I didn’t see the defeat coming and felt things were going to be bright, we thought Ghanaians would understand the situation due to the work the NPP government did. Nana Addo did well. This is human science and not physical science, even if you do very well, people could vote against you. Expectations were high. The whole party failed and couldn’t carry members along, but these are all post facto factors,” he added.
OSP
Touching on the issues related to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), he said he believed such institutions of state should be resourced like any other state institution such as Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) that were deliberately resourced over the years.
He said he preferred Martin Amidu who was objective, unorthodox and non-partisan, to the current Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, who has been reckless in his actions.
Mr. Blay added that the former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta should ignore Agyebeng and focus on his health and recover, which is paramount at the moment.
E-Levy
According to him, the popular Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy) which was adequately discussed before it was implemented and later reduced, still faced some backlash from Ghanaians and affected the NPP during the 2024 elections.
He indicated that it was one of the avenues the then government could generate revenue through taxes for development, though not too extremely overboard and burdensome as the current fuel levy that the NDC would want Ghanaians to believe is meant to support the energy sector.
He said the NDC cannot do better than the NPP considering the manner in which it has started addressing some of the issues since Ghanaians handed over power to them.
He however, wished the current government well, hoping it will improve on the general well-being of Ghanaians.
NPP Restructuring
Mr. Blay further indicated that he preferred the party’s restructuring process to start from the grassroots level to help re-energise the base rather than a top-down approach which will focus on the leadership of the party.
He noted, “People have varied opinions, but for me, we should start voting from the bottom. This will energise the base. If we do it the other way round, the grassroots will wane. We only have to be careful the attention will not shift towards leadership alone.”
“When the vehicle is strong from the constituency, the members will help carry the party. I will prefer bottom up because after all, the constituency is the base. When the vehicle is strong, and the engine is strong, it may help to carry the leadership and the party,” he added.
He said Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh’s ticket as the running mate to Dr. Bawumia would help the party, even though he does not oppose the views of other members of the party.
Mr. Blay, while encouraging members of the party interested in vying for various positions to do so, however cautioned them to engage in healthy competition and refrain from engaging in acts that may affect the party in the long run.
He assured members that all the recommendations by the committee tasked to find why the NPP lost the 2024 elections would be implemented.
Ebenezer K. Amponsah