‘Breaking the 8’ became the chorus of the NPP after Akufo-Addo won his tumultuous second-term election in 2020. Instead of the NPP focusing on making the lives of Ghanaians better with transformative policies and good governance to warrant their third victory in a row (‘breaking the 8’), the Party rather prioritized brazen nepotism, corruption, and mismanagement of the economy coupled with the arrogance of power under President Akufo-Addo.

Akufo-Addo’s uninspiring style of leadership as President has led to untold suffering and hardships facing Ghanaians now. For me, the cardinal ‘sin’ of Akufo-Addo is the unchecked high-tech galamsey (HTG) operations in forest reserves and on water bodies, which destroy and poison them for the present and future generations of the country.

The Bawumia-led NPP now has shot itself in the foot going into the upcoming 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections in December. This is attributable to the fact that the NPP overpromised Ghanaians since 2016 and woefully underperformed within their eight years in power.

Although the Flagbearer and Vice President Bawumia is bearing No. 1 on the ballot, he is already defeated by his own failed high-sounding economic pronouncements eight years ago. The NPP, currently led by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has no viable political message to convince Ghanaians to vote for them again in 2024, let alone to break the 8 with the No. 1 position on the ballot.

For instance, Dr Bawumia’s claim of arresting the Cedi, as well as deliberately naming the former President as ‘incompetent’, turned out to be propagandist statements to win power in 2016. The abysmal performance of this Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led government cannot afford to achieve a historic feat in terms of Ghana’s politics in 2024. The NPP should rather deeply reflect on its mistakes and come back another time when Ghanaians decide to do so in the next elections.

Since the NPP badly wants to break the 8, the No. 8 on the ballot for the 2024 general elections would have been easier for the Party and Dr. Bawumia to coin an electoral message around it. Unfortunately for the NPP, No. 1 on the ballot has shattered their ‘breaking the 8’ mantra. The poor record of the governing NPP and Dr. Bawumia as the Chairman of the Economic Management Team is not consistent with the No. 1 position as the preferred choice on election day.

Rather, the Mahama-Jane ticket of the NDC, with No. 8 on the ballot in the upcoming general elections, is more potent and attractive to woo voters to their side than the NPP’s No. 1 position on the ballot. The messing up of the economy, worsening trend of corruption, nepotism, moral decay, and wanton destruction of our pristine forest reserves and crucial water bodies must be broken after the eight years of Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia.

The NDC and former President Mahama have proven over the past 8 years to be a strong force to reckon with in the Ghanaian political terrain. The transformative policies of the NDC, such as the 24-Hour economy proposal, abolishment of nuisance taxes, establishment of women’s banks, stress-free fees for first-year students, recovery of all loot, etc., coupled with the more experienced, honest, and visionary former President Mahama, will shatter the 8 years of poor governance by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia-led regime.

The NDC are, therefore, poised to break the eight years of poor living conditions, worsening corruption, nepotism, moral decay, as well as unchecked HTG operations threatening the very existence of our dear nation. The NDC and former President Mahama are a better choice for Ghana. Vote No. 8 for Mahama/NDC and associated parliamentary candidates to rebuild, reset, and revamp the economy to provide more jobs and better living conditions for Ghanaians.