Andy Appiah-Kubi, the departing member of parliament for Ashanti Region’s Asante Akim North, has blamed President Nana Akufo-Addo’s leadership choices for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) significant defeat in the general elections held on December 7, 2024.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP’s presidential candidate, conceded early in the election before the official results were announced, causing the party to lose badly at the polls.
John Mahama, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), won a landslide victory, becoming the next president and leading the NDC to an absolute majority in Parliament.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Upfront, Appiah-Kubi contended that President Akufo-Addo’s disregard for requests from NPP MPs to fire former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta was the first step toward the NPP’s problems.
The MP claims that Dr. Bawumia’s chances of winning the presidency were severely harmed by the President’s refusal to address structural problems.
He also attacked the President’s strategy, calling him “too recalcitrant,” which he said led to the party’s loss.
Appiah-Kubi, who was also defeated by an independent candidate for his parliamentary seat, questioned the president’s decision, arguing that his disregard for the MPs’ collective resolution showed a lack of attention to legitimate issues.
What he said:
“The blame will go by extension because he [President Akufo-Addo] refused to listen to us. Even when we saw the reality and tried to communicate it to him, he wouldn’t accept anything of the sort,”
“He [Akufo-Addo] didn’t do enough to help Dr Bawumia because if you won’t listen to your own MPs… It was not just one person speaking. We were advocating with the support of more than 96 Members of Parliament,”
“It’s not as though one person was saying something unwarranted. We had written our resolution, and because we didn’t have other opportunities, we wanted him to hear us. Yet, he refused to listen to any of us. That’s why we can blame him for this outcome,”
