Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has expressed confidence that he will give the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its presidential candidate John Mahama a "showdown" in the 2024 elections if he is selected as the flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Speaking to NPP delegates in Nkwanta South Constituency in Oti Region last weekend ahead of the party's presidential primary in November 2023, Dr. Bawumia said people in NPP strongholds like the Zongos and Northern Regions are rooting for him. He believes that if he is chosen as the NPP candidate, he will be able to pull more votes from these regions, which are traditionally NDC strongholds.
"The people in the Zongos are saying that if the NPP chooses me as its presidential candidate, they will vote for me massively. If you take a look at the Northern Regions and the Zongos, the two strongholds of the NDC, they will fall to the NPP if I am the candidate," he told the delegates.
Dr. Bawumia argued that gaining more votes from these NDC strongholds would weaken the opposition party and give the NPP an advantage in the elections. "This accounts for their [NDC's] fear of Dr Bawumia because they fully appreciate that if I am the candidate for the NPP, I will give the NDC a showdown," he added.
Dr. Bawumia is currently touring all eight constituencies in Oti Region as part of his campaign for the NPP flagbearership. He will then move on to the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions. He faces competition from three other NPP aspirants: Kennedy Agyapong, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto and Francis Addai Nimoh. Alan Kyerematen has withdrawn from the race.
In response, the NDC's Director of Conflict Resolution Abraham Amaliba said the party was not afraid of Dr. Bawumia and that his emergence as NPP flagbearer would actually make their campaign easier compared to if Alan Kyerematen had won.
"Dr. Bawumia is the last person that the NDC is afraid of...if Bawumia emerges the winner, our campaign will be much easier than if it were Alan Kyerematen," Amaliba said.
This sets the stage for what promises to be a fiercely contested political showdown in the lead up to Ghana's 2024 elections. Dr. Bawumia believes he can make inroads into traditional NDC strongholds if he is chosen as the NPP flagbearer, while the NDC claims they are not afraid of Dr. Bawumia and would actually prefer him over Alan Kyerematen. Whichever way it goes, Ghanaians can expect a heated political campaign as the two major parties gear up for the all-important 2024 election.
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