I was told how my mother slapped her elder sister in the lead-up to the 1996 elections when late President Rawlings was seeking a second term after transitioning from military rule to constitutional democracy in 1992. This was because her elder sibling shared a different political opinion from hers.
From the way the story was narrated, it appeared everyone else in the house supported my mother’s actions against her elder sister. The reason was because it was a taboo to endorse any political party in our home other than the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Coming of age, I was made to believe it was only the uneducated that aligned with the National Democratic Congress (NDC), as we were made to believe that the NPP was the ‘Akrakyefoɔ’ party, meaning it is a party for the elite. Growing up in such a family, and also with the general narrative that the NPP was predominantly composed of educated individuals, it was expected that logic would prevail in every major decision affecting the party, including the trajectory of their campaign messaging, leadership elections, candidate selection, appointments, and other critical areas.
I didn’t see much of Rawlings’ administration except the latter part before Kufuor took over in 2001. Most of the stories we heard were about Rawlings’ deeds in his PNDC era, and after seeing Kufuor’s administration for 8 years, I still believed in the narrative that it was problematic to see an educated person publicly declaring support for a party like the NDC.
There were times I wondered why people like Julian Cobbinah, David Attakpah, Kwesi Hayford, Beatrice Anangfio, and others –educated folks, no less –proudly identified as NDC members back in KNUST. This was due to the political culture we were nurtured with, growing up.
The President Ghana never got and his ‘Economic Wizkid’
Regardless of what was happening in other countries, including Zimbabwe’s ballooning inflation and economic challenges elsewhere, I would still have described Mahama’s first term as the worst any democracy had seen in the last three decades globally, if Akufo-Addo hadn’t gotten the chance to become Ghana’s President.
My exact description during Akufo-Addo’s first two failed attempts at the presidency –had he not gotten the chance –is what Manasseh Azure used as the title of his book; ‘The President Ghana Never Got’. Back then, based on his performance as Attorney-General and Foreign Affairs Minister, coupled with some personal principles espoused by persons closer to him, some of us saw him as the finest politician of our time.
With what we witnessed of Mahama’s first term, Akufo-Addo was the “Saviour” most of us expected to redeem us from the troubles we faced at the time. Apart from corruption, everything about governance in Ghana hinges on the economy, and we felt Mahama was the worst manager of it, based on the indices he bequeathed to Akufo-Addo in 2017, considering what they inherited from Kufuor in 2009.
For instance, the cedi was trading at GHC1.25 to the dollar in January 2009 when the Mills/Mahama administration took over, but depreciated to GHC4.23 in January 2017 when they were leaving office. Between 2017 and 2025, when Akufo-Addo’s term expired, the local currency traded at GHC15.85 to the dollar.
But in 2016, before Ghanaians gave Akufo-Addo and Bawumia the opportunity in their third attempt, we were led to believe there was an “Economic Wizkid” who could rescue us from the economic turmoil Mahama and his team had plunged us into.
I recall the economic lectures at Central University, the 170 questions posed to then Vice President Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur –may his soul rest in peace –and the infamous exchange rate analysis with the fundamentals of the economy, which Bawumia says was true then and remains true today.
That notwithstanding, when things turned out worse under Bawumia’s leadership as Head of Akufo-Addo’s Economic Management Team (EMT), the NPP that had presented him as the “Economic Messiah” suddenly changed their tune. He claimed he was just the driver’s mate, not the driver – not in charge, and couldn’t be held accountable for the government’s shortcomings.
Akufo-Addo administration sidelining Bawumia
I was tempted to put up this piece during the 2024 electioneering campaign but stopped along the way. But the reelection of Dr. Bawumia as flagbearer for the NPP left me no choice than to bring out the very questions I pondered over during the last electioneering period.
Was it the reelection itself that triggered this? No! On TV3’s KeyPoints on Saturday, January 31, 2026, a staunch supporter of Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia, Kofi Bentil, who is the Vice President of IMANI Africa, one of the respected think tanks in the world, made an assertion which reignited my interest to return to this piece.
When host Alfred Ocansey asked how the NPP would address the claim that everything good under Akufo-Addo was achieved, often engineered by then Vice President Bawumia, while he wasn’t in charge of the failures, Kofi Bentil responded as expected –echoing the stance of Dr. Bawumia and the entire NPP communication machinery.
He said Bawumia wasn’t in charge and couldn’t be held accountable for the administration’s woes. According to him, his views were not considered and until Ghanaians grant him the opportunity to form his own government, his sort might be underestimated.
“The issue of him being sidelined isn’t an opinion, it’s a fact. If you don’t know, you’ve not followed Ghana’s politics in the last eight years,” Kofi Bentil said without mincing words.
‘Bawumia the Doer’ and ‘Bawumia the ‘Driver’s mate’
I started this piece by sharing my family’s political background because it was rooted in the same narrative Ghanaians were fed about the NPP –a party of intellectuals with high standards. That’s why I’m grappling with this flip where they’re crediting Bawumia for the wins but saying he was just along for the ride when things went south.
Where is the logic? I don’t think the NDC which most Ghanaians, hitherto, believed was full of illiterates, would push this narrative the NPP appears to be advancing now.
This was the trajectory of their campaign in 2024 and it didn’t work, thinking that they are going to flip the message, it appears nothing is changing since the likes of Kofi Bentil, with his proximity to Bawumia, is still preaching same message when the party’s presidential primary was ongoing.
Dr. Bawumia spoke of 33 initiatives he introduced that helped the Akufo-Addo administration.
The question is, if he is credited with the successes of the administration, shouldn’t he share responsibility for the challenges as well? It is a narrative that raises eyebrows –taking credit for the wins, but distancing himself from the losses. How does this pass the logic test for a party that prides itself on intellectual rigour?
Given their claim of being a party of intellectuals, how does this narrative align with their self-proclaimed status? It echoes the “Dutch Passport-PhD” debate, where a colleague argued that the disconnect between Dr. Bawumia’s economics doctorate and Ghana’s economic reality fuelled disillusionment with education, leading some youth to prioritise a Dutch Passport over academic ambitions.
The conundrum can be likened to the popular assertion among the Akans where a bride is told that any blessings that come with the marriage are hers to keep, while a debt or misfortune belongs to the husband.
Conclusion
Governance and leadership expert, Professor Enoch Opoku-Antwi, during the NPP presidential primary on Saturday, described the contest as a “Ghanaian movie”, where the end is known from the beginning without suspense or surprises. According to him, it was obvious Dr. Bawumia was going to win the election looking at how the party leadership schemed the entire process.
“But this election is just like a Ghanaian movie. In Ghanaian movies you can see the end from the beginning. Once it starts, you know how it will end because the story line is just straight, there are no surprises, there are no suspense and that’s exactly what is going to happen here. We know who is going to win and we know who is going to lose,” he said on the KeyPoints on TV3 on January 31, 2026.
Today marks exactly one week since the presidential primary that got Dr. Bawumia elected as the NPP flagbearer. Now that he’s won, the question is: whose legacy will they campaign on, given their selective narrative where they credit Bawumia for the successes of the previous administration but distance him from the failures?
I see the NPP’s narrative around Bawumia as a striking illustration of the party’s contradictions. As former Vice President and Head of the Economic Management Team (EMT), he was credited with the government’s successes but exempted from its failures –claiming he wasn’t in charge. As a party that prides itself as a bastion of intellectualism, this selective accountability exposes a glaring inconsistency.
If he was leading the EMT, shouldn’t he bear some responsibility for the challenges? This disconnect fuels public skepticism, echoing the “Dutch Passport-PhD” debate, where some argued the contrast between Bawumia’s role and Ghana’s economic reality fuelled disillusionment with education.
Now, with Bawumia reelected as flagbearer, the NPP faces a tough task selling this narrative to Ghanaians –reconciling crediting him for the successes and distancing him from the failures. Will they lean into the “intellectual leadership” narrative, hoping voters will overlook the contradictions? Or they will change the narrative this time around for him to take responsibility for the failures?
Given the economic struggles Ghanaians endured under his care, voters might demand more accountability, and the NPP’s approach will reveal whether they will opt for intellectual rigour or political expediency.
The writer, Felix Anim-Appau, works with the online unit at Media General. The views expressed in this piece are his personal opinions and do not reflect, in any form or shape, those of the Media General Group, where he works. His email address is kwadwoasiedu2012@gmail.com, and he can be found on X as @platofintegrity