Former NPP MP rubbishes Justin Kodua's spiritual explanation for party’s 2024 heavy defeat

Eugene Boakye Antwi, the former Member of Parliament for Subin and a prominent member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has voiced strong objections to assertions that the party's loss in the 2024 general elections was attributable to spiritual forces.

In a recent interview with UTV, Antwi challenged the reasoning behind linking the electoral defeat to non-material causes, emphasizing that this viewpoint overlooks critical political and economic realities. "It is very unfortunate and regrettable for someone to suggest that defeat is spiritual," he stated, directly countering remarks made by NPP General Secretary Justine Kodua, who had previously connected the party’s defeat to spiritual reasons.

Antwi pointed out the importance of relying on scientific data in politics, questioning, "If that is what we use for politics, then where is the spirituality?" He also stressed that electoral losses are determined long before election day. "We don’t lose elections in the election year; you lose elections 18 months before the election year," he noted, indicating that issues within the NPP had been evident since 2022.

The former MP highlighted several significant factors that had undermined public support for the party in the lead-up to the elections, including the controversial domestic debt exchange program, which affected over 800,000 depositors, and the banking sector cleanup that led to substantial job losses.

Antwi referenced widespread public dissatisfaction, marked by protests and negative receptions of presidential convoys, as indications of the electorate's discontent. "People also lost their jobs through the banking cleanup exercise. A lot of things happened that clearly were not spiritual," he affirmed, attributing the NPP’s electoral struggles to economic missteps rather than mystical influences.

His comments come as NPP officials continue to analyze the fallout from the 2024 election results, grappling with the reasons behind their defeat. While some party members, including Kodua, have suggested spiritual explanations for the loss, others like Antwi advocate for a more realistic assessment of governance and electoral strategy in the years preceding the elections.