Dr. Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, popularly known as NAPO, has delivered one of the most candid reflections yet on the New Patriotic Party’s crushing 2024 election defeat, attributing the loss to a deep-seated breakdown of trust between the Akufo-Addo–Bawumia administration and the Ghanaian people.
Speaking with marked restraint but unmistakable clarity, the 2024 NPP Vice Presidential Candidate said the party’s fall from power was not the result of a single event, but a culmination of misjudgments, global shocks, and a failure to listen when it mattered most.
“One thing I’ve come to conclusive in the last ten months is that there was a broken trust — citizens to the government. The trust that was broken had so much silk that we saw the results. We didn’t listen enough. We assumed a lot of things we shouldn’t have assumed. Our purpose was probably a bit challenged for us.”
Dr. Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, NPP 2024 Vice Presidential Candidate
His comments provide a rare insider’s acknowledgement of political missteps within an administration that prided itself on competence and stability, yet ultimately oversaw Ghana’s worst economic meltdown in a generation.
Dr. Opoku-Prempeh, who previously served as Minister for Education, Minister for Energy, and MP for Manhyia South, said the party’s internal review of its loss had led him to appreciate how severely the social contract had frayed by Election Day.
According to him, the government underestimated the depth of public frustration that was swelling beneath the surface. He argued that the NPP administration had failed to pick up the signals early enough, and where it did, it misread them. This disconnect, he said, was compounded by the tumultuous global landscape that shook governments worldwide.
“We have descended; we have gone through the worst global economic climate, medically and economically. Governments around the whole world have been toppled and changed, apart from probably dictatorial governments, autocratic governments.”
Dr. Mathew Opoku-Prempeh, NPP 2024 Vice Presidential Candidate
Global Shocks Collided with Existing Domestic Vulnerabilities
His assessment draws attention to the wider international trend in which governments facing inflation, supply-chain crises, and public health disasters struggled to retain public confidence. But for Ghana, he stressed, these global shocks collided with existing domestic vulnerabilities that magnified their impact.
He painted a vivid picture of the scale of economic turmoil Ghanaians endured: “A container from China that cost 1,200 logistic wire had risen to 14,000. People’s lifetime savings had been wiped out. People had died in their droves that had never been seen before. Without a military crisis or world war, a lot of things had happened.”
NAPO’s reflections come in the context of the NPP’s historic electoral crash. On December 7, 2024, the party lost both the presidency and a parliamentary majority in one of the most decisive election outcomes in Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
President John Dramani Mahama returned to power with 56.55% of the vote, defeating NPP candidate Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who secured 41.61%. The NPP’s vote share dropped by over 1.8 million compared to 2020, while the NDC secured 185 parliamentary seats to the NPP’s 87.
Internal NPP post-election reviews, led by a committee chaired by Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, have reportedly highlighted multiple internal failures — though the full report has not been publicly released.
Still, analysts and insiders have pointed to systemic weaknesses: unresolved factionalism, discontent among grassroots members due to the delegate selection system, and growing public perception of arrogance among some appointees.
NPP Could Have Done Better
NAPO did not shy away from the implication that the NPP government could have communicated better, acted earlier, and responded more sensitively to the rising cost of living.
Ghana’s worst economic crisis in decades — marked by spiralling inflation, aggressive taxation policies, severe debt distress, and a rapidly depreciating cedi — created fertile ground for widespread voter dissatisfaction.
For many Ghanaians, new taxes such as the e-levy and betting tax symbolised a government out of touch with everyday struggles. Allegations of corruption and ostentatious behaviour among some officials further eroded the moral authority the NPP had enjoyed during its early years in office.
While NAPO acknowledged the weight of global crises, his remarks also suggest an understanding that the NPP’s electoral loss was partly self-inflicted.
His assertion that the government “didn’t listen enough” underscores a broader critique shared by citizens and political observers alike: that the party did not adequately respond to public anxiety, nor recalibrate its governance style to match the severity of the moment.
His comments signal a willingness within the NPP to confront its shortcomings ahead of future political contests. The party’s internal restructuring and reform efforts will likely be shaped by reflections such as these, as leaders attempt to rebuild trust and reposition the NPP as a viable alternative in 2028.
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