I can point to 3 main determinants or ‘factors’ accounting for the unattractiveness of the Bawumia-NAPO pair for the Presidential race going into 2024 general elections.

But before I delve into these 3 factors, it is important to state that the choice of Bawumia as the Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on November 4, 2023, led to Alan and some key members of the ‘Butterfly Movement’ leaving the NPP while Napo’s choice also generated some rumors why late John Kumah was poisoned and died.

Aside from the issues surrounding the choice of Bawumia and NAPO for the Presidency in 2024, both do not have much appealing national image to get the nod of majority of Ghanaians after President Akufo-Addo is gone. Now, here are the specific factors I believe make the Bawumia-Napo pair in this Presidential race highly unattractive ticket for the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

The Bawumia’s factor

When Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia was made a running mate to then Presidential candidate Akufo-Ado, he was packaged by the NPP to be the ‘Economic Wizkid’ of his time to turn the economy around. Soon after the NPP won the 2016 general elections, the so-called ‘Solid Team’ was unveiled and chaired by Dr. Bawumia till date but nothing solid economic gains have been made by this very Solid Team. It is an undeniable reality that Ghana’s economy is in shambles now, as the Cedi is so weak that it is now at 18GHS to 1$ for the past 8 years from 4GHS to 1$ under former President Mahama in 2016.

The Vice President, Dr. Bawumia also promised Ghanaians that their government would eliminate water and toilet problems in the country as well as reducing the sufferings of Ghanaians but all these mouth-watering promises of Bawumia and the NPP are a mirage. To make it look like he will be his own man as President, Dr. Bawumia ran away from some draconian taxes e.g. e-levy, emission tax and 10% betting tax, that he and President Akufo-Addo imposed on Ghanaians. This is highly disingenuous, insincere and contradictory to say the least!

The discredited pronouncements of Bawumia are his own making and he is causing his Presidential ambition to be highly unattractive and far remote. Thus, the factor of Dr. Bawumia is indeed working against him, and he cannot win the Presidency in 2024. In recently published polls conducted by the Global Info Analytics, Dr. Bawumia has trailed behind the former President of the NDC, which is understandable due to his poor performance as Vice President in office and looking the mess that he and his government created in the first place.

The NAPO’s factor

The Running Mate (RM) of the NPP, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh (Napo) is a controversial figure and a loose talker since becoming the former Minister of Education and Energy as well as the RM to Bawumia. On many occasions, NAPO disrespectfully addressed teachers and students and telling Ghanaians to bring their own ‘Dumsor Timetable’ when dumsor was at its peak under his watch as the Minister of Energy then.

After becoming the RM to Bawumia, Napo angered Ghanaians by referring to the Founder of Ghana as ‘your Nkrumah’ when he was unveiled in Kumasi and later apologized to Ghanaians. Lately, Napo also intimated that Muslims who will vote for former President Mahama will be engaging in a ‘Haram’.

Obviously, NAPO has proven to be arrogant, disrespectful and divisive and has an unappealing national image to contribute significantly in terms of votes to Bawumia’s Presidential ambition. Thus, the factor of Napo is the undoing for the unattractiveness of the NPP’s Presidential ticket presented to Ghanaians in the 2024 general elections.

The Akufo-Addo’s factor

This regime of Akufo-Addo is the worst and most disappointing one in this 4th Republican dispensation. The arrogance of power, gargantuan corruption scandals, reckless borrowing and spending, and worsened galamsey situation witnessed under this Akufo-Addo’s regime are also attributable to a potential loss of Bawumia in the upcoming general elections.

The reputable outfit like Global Info Analytics in its latest polls released on 19th October 2024 stated that Akufo-Addo’s disapproval rate is at 33% and the country is in the wrong direction.

Why is Akufo-Addo so unconcerned about the plight of Ghanaians caused by the nuisance taxes and other unpopular policies of his regime, of which Bawumia is part now and promising again to abolish the same taxes when he becomes President? The impact of the Akufo-Addo factor on the chances of the NPP’s Presidential ticket in the upcoming general elections cannot be ignored.

Conclusion

The Presidential ticket of Bawumia-NAPO for the upcoming general elections is unattractive considering the actions and inactions of the 3 factors mentioned above and cannot win the hearts of many Ghanaians to vote massively for them and the NPP come December 7, 2024. Thus, the 'factors' of NAPO, Bawumia and Akufo-Addo coupled with their failed policies are the undoing for the unattractiveness of the NPP’s Presidential ticket presented to Ghanaians in the 2024 general elections. The only way the NPP including Dr. Bawumia and NAPO can learn better lessons will be to vote them out on December 7, 2024. The Bawumia-Napo pair is not a winnable ticket.