A Senior Lecturer at the University of Development Studies, Tamale, Dr. Michael Ayamga, says there seems to be some dissatisfaction among NPP delegates in the aftermath of the party’s presidential primaries.

This follows the election of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia as the party’s flagbearer ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Speaking on the JoyNews AM Show, the development economist said there is no excitement behind the election of the Vice President.

According to him, the news of Dr. Bawumia's election has also gone stale in the northern part of the country.

“I think that the Vice President as it stands now lacks the legitimacy to lead if 40% of your own party thinks that you do not deserve to be President of this country. So taking that message to the wider electorates is only going to spell disaster.

"I am in Northern Ghana here and I can tell you that the news of his election is going stale. There is no excitement behind his election. When you are speaking to people belonging to the NPP, there is this inner dissatisfaction with their choice.

"We more or less saw a ‘state choreographed election’. Everything was done to make sure that the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia emerged the winner. There was certain fear that he was not going to emerge the winner.

"Some people had to do something to ensure that what the people wanted to project doesn’t come to pass.

"So that is the problem we are confronted with here. 40% is no small number. It now means that his campaign team has to rebrand and resell him and given the baggage of Bawumia, he is not going to excite anybody,” he said.

Dr. Ayamga stressed that Dr. Bawumia represents a third term for President Akufo-Addo, hence the need for the newly elected flagbearer to rebrand and sell his vision.

“The Vice President comes across as someone who has lost credibility in terms of his ability to transform his speech into action.

"Many people know that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is Akufo-Addo’s third term and that the powers that he draws are firmly rooted in the circles and in the structures that brought President Akufo-Addo to power and that has anchored him in government so far.”

Background

The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was on Saturday, November 4 elected to lead the NPP after a keenly contested presidential primary.

Out of approximately 210,000 delegates, Dr Bawumia secured 118,210 votes, while his closest contender, MP for Assin Central, Ken Agyapong, received 71,996 votes.

With his victory, Dr Bawumia will face ex-President John Dramani Mahama, who secured the endorsement of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) earlier in the year.