A Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante has cautioned the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) not to discount the report of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) which has predicted a win for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the 2020 elections.

The EIU said in a report released on 13th May 2019 that Nana Akufo-Addo will beat NDC’s candidate John Dramani Mahama at the next general polls.

The report said: “Nana Akufo-Addo, the president, and his NPP will see the country’s economic situation generally improve during the remainder of their term of office. In the presidential election, Akufo-Addo will face a challenge from John Mahama — Ghana’s president from 2012 to early 2017, who was elected leader of the opposition NDC in February 2019.

The Economist Intelligence Unit also said it believes that it will be difficult for the NDC under Mr Mahama to portray itself as the better custodian of Ghana’s economy, especially as the country’s growth outlook is fairly strong.

Meanwhile, the opposition NDC has strongly reacted to the EIU report stating that the predictions are wrong making references to similar predictions by the International Think-Tank that did not come true.

The party in a statement issued on Thursday, May 16, 2019 welcomed the report but stated that “having done an objective and dispassionate analysis of the latest EIU report on Ghana, the NDC comes to the obvious conclusion, that the EIU has largely gotten their latest prediction of Ghana’s 2020 general election wrong.”

But speaking on the PM Show on Bolgatanga based YEM Radio monitored by MyNewsGh.com, Dr. Asante noted that there are other variables aside economic outlook that influence voter choices and outcomes of elections in Ghana.

According to him, though the performance of the economy is a key variable in elections, infrastructure, education and the fight against corruption are equally determinant factors often considered by the voting public.

He further warned the NDC against washing off the report saying “This is a serious organization. In elections we have three phases, the pre-election phase [this is where we are in] then during elections and then the post-election. We are saying that there is a build up to elections and anything that comes your way, you should not discount it. You should rather consider it and work towards it. Even if it goes against you, this is the time to turn things round. I’ll urge them to take this report seriously and to work to improve whatever is in the report which is against them”.

He also admonished the party to take a critical look at the other variables that influence voter choices and build on them with a careful communication of their track records as a trump card moving into the 2020 elections.