Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu is a former Majority Leader in Parliament
A former Majority Leader of Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has dismissed early political projections ahead of Ghana’s 2028 presidential election, describing such forecasts as unrealistic and premature.
Speaking on JoyNews AM Show on February 16, 2026, the former lawmaker cautioned political analysts and pollsters against attempting to predict outcomes three years in advance.
“In politics, three years is too long a distance for you to predict that, oh, this is going to happen in three years,” he said.
He further emphasised the volatile nature of electoral politics, noting that even short periods can significantly alter public opinion.
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“You’re not being realistic, if I should be blunt, because in politics, one week could even change [everything],” he stated.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu made reference to former US President Jimmy Carter as an example, pointing to what he described as fluctuating poll numbers during that American election.
“I remember President Carter in the US… The opinion poll suggested a month before his election that he was leading by 60 percent. He was leading his opponent by 60 percent,” he said.
He explained that the numbers changed significantly as the campaign progressed.
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“As the weeks and the days passed, his overwhelming margin of victory started declining. People started knowing him better. He had been a governor of Georgia. Yet, the polls continued to indicate that his percentage of the margin of victory was declining,” he said, illustrating how increased public scrutiny can reshape voter preferences.
According to him, the final outcome proved far tighter than earlier projections had suggested.
“… when the final week came, it [had] declined to 52 percent. In the final days, Jimmy Carter won. He won by just, I think, 1.2 percent,” he added.
Relating Carter’s situation to Ghana’s political landscape, the former Majority Leader maintained that early projections risk misleading the public.
“Three years is too long a distance for any pollster of any sort to say that I predicted. That is not polling. That is prophecy. And I don’t believe in these prophecies anyway,” he asserted.
His remarks come at a time when conversations and speculation about potential contenders for the 2028 presidential race are gaining momentum within political circles.
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