Akufo-Addo’s gov’t was more or less a one-man show; structures in NPP now very weak – Dr. Jonathan Asante

Political Science lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Jonathan Asante has shared his view on the government of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and what led to the defeat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2024 general elections.

According to him, the past administration was more or less a one-man show.

Speaking to Citi News, Dr. Asante opined this weakened the structures of the party, with the view that the party’s defeat in the 2024 general election was largely due to ex-President Akufo-Addo.

“What happened to them is like what is in Jeremiah, where it is said that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge. I think Mr. Akufo-Addo contributed about 60 per cent of Dr. Bawumia’s defeat, and Dr. Bawumia himself contributed about 40 per cent.

“Now that being said, the arrogance that the appointees of government displayed, all these things contributed as intangibles that led to that mass opposition to the renewal of their mandate in the 2024 elections. And so the goodwill is not there.

"The structures are weak in the sense that it was more or less like a one-man show. The temptation is that when you are in government you think that is it. You tend to overlook the structures of the party, you are tempted to sidestep what should be done in terms of structure thinking that everything is about using monetary resources to bulldoze your way through," Dr. Jonathan Asante explained.

The NPP after the defeat in the 2024 General Election has stepped back to assess what went wrong to correct it.

The party is currently taking the views of party members and the general public, in hopes of getting things in order before the next general election.