Source: Onuaonline.com
A Political Marketing Strategist at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Prof Kobby Mensah, has cautioned the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) ahead of the Ejisu by-election.
Analysing events that unfolded in some constituencies from 2020 till date, the Professor said the outcome of the Fomena parliamentary polls together with the two by-elections in Kumawu and Assin North should serve as a lesson to the party.
He explains that the manner with which the party struggled to win the Kumawu seat despite the constituency being their stronghold, together with Fomena which they lost to an independent candidate amid the President’s comments at the time, clearly indicate that the “political mood of the country is not on the side of the government.”
President Akufo-Addo had declared at Fomena in 2020 that he could not work with an independent candidate, urging the constituents to vote for the NPP candidate. But the party lost. The NPP also lost the Assin North seat in a by-election and won the Kumawu one amid vote buying allegations.
He tells Alfred Ocansey on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Monday, April 29, 2024 that losing the Ejisu by-election would be a disaster for the governing party in respect of the December general elections.
The political marketer said the NPP losing to the independent candidate, aside from losing their command in Parliament, will send a signal to Ghanaians that the party in power has lost grounds.
“Two by-elections were hardly fought and they lost one and won one. Fomena, the President was there and spoke about the idea that they don’t want the independent candidate yet he won against the party’s choice. What’s happening in Ejisu is similar.
“If they lose this particular Ejisu to the independent candidate, it portends badly for them but losing it will be a nail in the coffin and not only swinging the command in Parliament, although slim that they have, but it has a wider implication about their dwindling opportunities to win the election which they do not wan to send that signal to either their base or the general public,” he said.
Prof. Mensah’s comments follow a statement from President Akufo-Addo at the NPP’s final rally in Ejisu admonishing the constituents to vote for the NPP candidate since he cannot work with an independent candidate, the very comments he made at Fomena and yet lost the seat.
The Vice President and flag bearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, had also said that Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, a former NPP MP for Ejisu who is contesting as independent has switched allegiance to the NDC and a vote for him is a vote for the NDC.
Source: www.onuaonline.com
