- Former Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, narrated how the role he played in the 2016 election campaign helped Akufo-Addo become President
- Dr Bawumia said he asked Akufo-Addo to let him face John Mahama while he focused on his campaign
- The 2024 NPP flagbearer believes that the strategy changed the campaign style and got them the victory
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, a former Vice President, has recounted the key role he played in Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s victory in 2016 as President of Ghana.
The 2024 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) said he frustrated John Mahama at the time by calling him names, and that made him and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lose the 2016 election.
Addressing some delegates ahead of the NPP presidential primaries, Dr Bawumia said he asked Akufo-Addo to let him take charge of the 2016 campaign. He stated that his fierce criticism of the Mahama-led government, coupled with his description of President Mahama as “incompetent”, made the NDC attack him from all angles.
“In 2016, I pleaded with Nana Akufo-Addo to take a back seat, so could face John Mahama. He listened and made me take the front seat. That was when I told John Mahama he was incompetent. John Mahama got upset. He did not like the ‘incompetent’ tag. So, he also faced me squarely. While John Mahama focused on me, Nana Akufo-Addo paid attention to his campaign. Then Nana Akufo-Addo won the election.”
Dr Bawumia described the 2016 campaign as a heated one, which made him an enemy to the NDC.
“Because of this, the NDC doesn’t like me. They begin to insult me immediately they hear my name.”
Watch the video below:
Reactions to Bawumia’s 2016 campaign strategy
YEN.com.gh collated some reactions to the video shared by @sikaofficial1 on X. Read them below:
@alhassan48 said:
“He also nearly gave you convulsions in last year’s election. He made your man concede 2 seconds into the voting 🤣🤣🤣.”
@z_akcess1 wrote:
“His hand gestures alone, charley…I believe him🤣.”
@kojocona said:
“How did the ‘incompetent’ end up beating him in 2024 then? 🤔.”
@datboycarll wrote:
“He didn’t frustrate anyone. NDC lost the 2016 elections because Ghanaians were tired of the Government. Inflation, dumsor and cedi depreciation were the key factors.”
@gangsta825 said:
“Why didn’t he frustrate him again in the 2024 elections?”
@PaaChicharito wrote:
“You were able to convince Nana Addo to allow you to frustrate Mahama, but you couldn’t convince him to allow you to frustrate the Cedi? and you claimed to be the driver’s mate? Wow. Wow. Wow.”
@Mayor_Of_Surrey said:
“You’ve barely noticed that everything you said was actually aimed at yourself, @MBawumia—the incompetent economist who later scrambled to launch digitalisation.”
@princelonia68 wrote:
“See concert 😆 so naaa them take the country come play gala for solid 8 years. These people are not serious about turning the country into any better place…concert nkooaaa.”
@AseyePasca68055 said:
“And he didn’t win in 2024 because Nana Addo didn’t find anything to call Mahama to frustrate him; that is why he lost. Why didn’t Nana Addo go about dancing to Mahama paper paper😃.”
@Pkaythompson wrote:
“You are in 2025, and we just had an election, but you couldn’t reference the last election in 2024, but had to go back to 2016…lol. NPP paaa di3rrr.”