Campaign Manager for John Mahama’s 2024 campaign team, Joshua Alabi, has attributed the NDC’s defeat in the 2020 general elections to the combined effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and voter suppression in the party's strongholds.

He explained that these challenges hindered the NDC’s ability to effectively campaign and mobilise supporters during the electoral process.

Speaking in an interview on Channel One TV on Monday, 16th December, Professor Alabi outlined the key issues the party faced during the 2020 elections.

He noted that voter suppression, particularly in the Volta Region and remote areas, significantly affected the party’s performance.

Many NDC supporters, he claimed, were unfairly accused of being foreigners, preventing them from registering and reducing voter turnout in those areas.

Professor Alabi also highlighted the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, which restricted the NDC’s campaign activities while the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) took advantage of the situation.

According to him, as the government of the day, the NPP was able to continue working and campaigning during the pandemic while the NDC had limited time and resources to prepare.

He further stated that the party faced financial constraints in 2020, limiting its ability to support candidates adequately compared to the NPP’s well-funded campaigns.

Professor Alabi claimed that NPP candidates in regions like the Northeast were given between GHC1.5 million and GHC2 million for their campaigns, whereas NDC candidates received only GHC15,000 due to the financial challenges caused by the pandemic.

Despite these setbacks, Professor Alabi commended the NDC for its resilience and strategic efforts, which led to their victory in the 2024 elections.

He emphasised that the party’s ability to recover and secure both the presidency and a parliamentary majority was a testament to its enduring strength and grassroots support.

“So, they were campaigning, when we were released to campaign somewhere in July 2020, we had a very short time to plan everything.

"I must admit that a week before the 2020 elections we did not have the full complement of our agents in the Ashanti Region let alone to train them and also to train ourselves on how we’re going to block any possible stuffing of ballot boxes. We entered the 2020 elections with some handicaps.”