Having analysed the responses of 5000 Ghanaians interviewed in all the regions in Ghana, these are the main reasons why people want to vote for Mahama but not Akufo Addo in this general election.
- Elite background: Most Ghanaians associate Nana to a 'posh' background and lifestyle. He had the opportunity of been flown to UK to study his GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ level (Lancing College, Sussex, England) because his father was one of the government officials. Most Ghanaians don't have this opportunity and think that this background and lifestyle makes him out of touch with the ordinary Ghanaian.
- Arrogance: It has been reported widely that Nana is an arrogant man. All effort to refute this has been backfired by one incidence or another. His breakaway with former president Kufuor, the bitter rivalry between him and Alan Cash which caused Alan's resignation has not helped.
- Education and qualification: His educational background and work experience fall short of the kind of substance Ghanaians need.
- Performance and Age: As minister of justice and foreign minister, there is very little one can pin point as an outstanding achievement compared to his competitor John Mahama. He is very close to his retirement age and would be 70 years old soon compared to a much younger 53 year old, popularly known as 'OBAMA'.
- Indecision: Many analysts have identified indecision as Nana's serious weakness if he becomes commander in chief of Ghana Armed forces. He found it difficult to pick his running mate in 2008,It also took an excessively long time for him to choose Bawumiah. In 2008,it is reported that Bawumiah was 'damped' on him. The nomination of Mr Amissah Arthur from central region who appeals to the middle class and most floating voters is a big issue to contend with. Like for like he is way ahead of Bawumiah in terms of experience, exposure to economic planning and management.
- Womanizer: It has been alleged that Nana Addo likes women. This has tarnished his reputation. A damming publication that is hunting him till date, is the alleged fondling that took place in 2008 GTV studio. This has caused a great problem in that woman's marriage which nearly collapsed. Owusu Bempa, FONKAR director of operations also reported on UK radio in 2008 that Nana had an affair with a lady who died in the hospital when she went to the hospital to abort Nana's baby.
- Drug user: It has been reported in Wikileaks website that Nana smokes 'Ganja'. It is even alleged that he was expelled from Oxford University for smoking wee, an allegation Nana has not denied. His nephew had once been caught trafficking cocaine. This has dented his international reputation.
- Rioter and a Rebel leader Nana has been associated with lots of riots, some of which led to the death of 4 young men. 'Kumi preko' demonstration which rioted against an introduction of VAT, which was seen as unnecessary demonstration due to the significance of VAT which has led the growth of Ghana's economy as well as huge infrastructure development in our education sector.As rebel leader,Nana has been associated with war,most analysts fear that his pronouncements are so dangerous that the security service should monitor him 24/7.He is reported to have made an unguarded statement of 'All die be die'.Nana has not been able to retract this statement or apologise to all Ghanaians.The international community are so worried that BBC wanted to give him the platform to withdraw the statement but he squashed this opportunity at BBC straight talk.
- Family issues; The bloodiest clash in the history of Abuakwa south constituency happened between Nana and his own niece in 1996 when he contested with Owuraku Amofa for the parliamentary seat. This led to lots of casualties. This forced Owuraku Amofa to leave his own nation.
- Polytrickian': Most people have associated Nana with the traditional way of politics, which is 'polytricks' the play of many tricks. His pronouncement of free secondary education in Ghana as his one and only campaign message without convincing explanation as to how he was going to fund it is related to Kufuor’s last attempt to secure a victory for Nana in 2008 by decreasing petrol prices, the first ever decrease in Ghana's history and also the release of taxi drivers who had been imprisoned wrongfully. These were tricks Ghanaians realized in 2008 election.
