A senior lecturer at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Dr. Jonathan Asante Okyere, has advised the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to revamp its campaign strategy by featuring non-partisan and highly respected individuals at the forefront.
This recommendation comes on the heels of the NPP’s announcement to establish a committee to investigate its significant loss in the 2024 elections.
Speaking on Starr Today on Monday, December 23, Dr. Okyere emphasized that the NPP should take a cue from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) by incorporating reputable and widely admired individuals into their campaign.
He cited the 2024 campaign as an example, suggesting that President Akufo-Addo’s involvement was not ideal, given his low approval ratings, as indicated by Global Infoanalytics data.
Dr. Okyere further stated that both Akufo-Addo and former President Kufour should take a backseat, allowing the party to rebrand and reorganize.
He expressed surprise at Kufour’s recent partisan activities, which he believed were influenced by party loyalty rather than statesmanship.
Dr. Okyere also pointed to discontent within the NPP’s Ashanti support base, which he believed played a significant role in the party’s defeat.
He suggested that the leadership’s actions, rather than the party itself, led to the disgruntlement, which could have affected the election outcome.
He said, “They [Akufo-Addo and Kufour] should rather stay behind. Maybe Dr. Bawumia did not have what it took to lead the party to win the elections, the president had the lowest performance rate in approval rate. If you look at the Global Infoanalytics data, he had the lowest approval rate. So you didn’t need such a person to lead to lead in the front line of your campaign, so as for the president, he is out. the only thing they can do is to solicit some views from him as a committee, not he becoming part of the committee.”
“President Kufour, I think that he has run his race, he’s tired. I got surprised that every here now and then, they hauled him to take part in partisan activities because until recently he voiced the view that Dr. Bawumia is the best which I realised that it was partisan influence, and it was not a Stateman influence kind of statement from the former president, someone I highly respect because he has gained acceptability and respect of and sundry, including the NDC, NPP itself and other political parties. so there was no need for him to meddle in this affair. But I got information that the journey was too touch for Bawumia and they needed to convince the Ashanti support-based to come on board. That is even the main cause of the defeat of the NPP. The Ashanti support-based felt disgruntled by the kind of things by the leadership, not the party.”
