Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia
The 2024 New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer and former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has firmly rejected claims that his religious background contributed to the NPP’s loss in the 2024 general election.
Speaking at a post-election party engagement in Accra ahead of the nationwide “Thank You Tour”, Dr. Bawumia called for unity within the NPP and insisted that internal voter apathy—not religious bias—was the decisive factor in the party’s defeat.
“Let us be clear: this was not about religion,” Dr. Bawumia stated and added, “People said we lost because our candidate was Muslim. But this doesn’t make sense and is not backed by data. Ghana is not that kind of country.”
Citing internal analysis and independent research findings, Dr. Bawumia explained that in many constituencies across the country, he outperformed Christian NPP parliamentary candidates—disproving the notion that his faith led to electoral setbacks.
Dr. Bawumia referenced examples like Rev. Ntim Fordjour’s Assin South Constituency, where he garnered more votes than the Christian MP, underscoring that religion had little to no bearing on voters’ choices.
“If voters were rejecting me for being Muslim, I would not have done better than several Christian candidates in the same constituencies,” he added. “This is just propaganda that we must reject.”
According to him, all the research institutions came to the conclusion that the NPP’s loss was not an issue of religion.
“It is not an issue of tribe. Those issues have been ruled out in all the findings from different surveys that have been done,” he stressed.
“So as a party, I’m very, very happy that, and as a country, I’m very, very happy that religion and tribe have not entered our political discourse. We should not, therefore, allow people to come in to play propaganda with religion and tribe. We are one nation. We will all go together, and we will move whether we are Muslims or Christians. We’ll all work together for the good of this country, and that is how we should try to get everybody going forward,” Dr. Bawumia intimated.
Internal Apathy to Blame
According to Dr. Bawumia, the NPP lost approximately 2.1 million votes between the 2020 and 2024 elections, largely due to party supporters failing to show up at the polls.
“John Mahama gained just about 115,000 additional votes, but our numbers dropped by over two million. That’s the story. The issue is within us, not outside us,” he stressed.
He argued that the party’s greatest challenge lies in reenergising its base and rebuilding a more inclusive structure. He urged party leaders and supporters to reflect on the recommendations of the recently submitted election review report led by Professor Mike Aaron Oquaye.
Call for Party Unity and Structural Reforms
As part of efforts to rebuild the NPP, Dr. Bawumia announced a departure from the traditional solo “Thank You Tour” undertaken by losing candidates. Instead, he extended an open invitation to his former flagbearer primary contenders to join him on a nationwide unity tour.
“This time, it’s not about me. It’s about the party. I’ve invited my fellow aspirants to join me so we can present a united front to our supporters and to the nation,” he said, adding, “It’s not about primaries anymore—it’s about building a party that can win general elections.”
Dr. Bawumia also backed changes to the party’s delegate system, proposing reforms that would broaden participation in internal elections and give more members a voice in candidate selection.
“We must make the party stronger. If we unite, we will win 2028. If we don’t, we will fall short again,” he warned.
Echoing the words of his late mentor, Dr. Bawumia concluded, “United we stand, divided we fall. Let us choose unity. Let us build the machinery that can win—not just within the party, but for the nation.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu