Political Analyst, Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, has criticised Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the 2024 Presidential Candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and former Vice President, for his explanation of the party’s defeat in the 2024 general elections.

Dr. Asah-Asante is urging Bawumia to take responsibility for the NPP’s failures rather than deflecting blame.

In an interview on Citi FM on Monday, April 28, 2025, Dr. Asah-Asante advised Dr. Bawumia to demonstrate boldness and integrity by acknowledging where the party went wrong, warning that any attempt to shift blame would only undermine the NPP's chances of recovery.

Dr. Bawumia had earlier attributed the NPP's loss to factors such as the arrogance of power, high living costs, the failure to reshuffle government officials, the controversial introduction of the E-Levy, and the unpopular haircut policy under the IMF debt restructuring programme.

However, Dr. Asah-Asante questioned the accuracy and validity of the methods used in compiling the party’s post-election report, particularly regarding whether it properly captured regional and constituency-specific issues that influenced voter behaviour.

“I want to see the instrument that they used to collect the data. If the instrument did not try to elicit responses related to regional-specific issues and constituency-specific issues, then I have a problem with it. In election surveys, we have national issues, but beyond that, there are also regional and constituency issues,” he said.

He further emphasised that unless the NPP confronts its shortcomings head-on, its ability to recover will remain limited.

“They have a lot of work to do, but this approach won’t help them. They need to sit down, analyse the report, and figure out how to address the issues,” Dr. Asah-Asante concluded.

“All they need to do is to be bold and admit where they went wrong. Acknowledge the failures, then move forward with integrity. But if you keep passing blame on others, you are running away from the truth. Remember, in politics, there is a day of reckoning, and that day will come when you face the reality.”