IMANI Pulse Ranks Afenyo-Markin Ghana’s Most Negative Political Figure Online

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Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin finished September 2026 as the most negative political figure in Ghana’s online conversation, according to the latest IMANI PULSE report. He recorded 454 mentions, 66 percent of them negative, for a mean sentiment score of negative 0.27, the lowest among the seven tracked figures.

His conversation moved through several controversies during the month, including the GoldBod losses debate, parliamentary disputes and education concerns. The late September narcotics row proved the most consequential, as his parliamentary offensive over major cocaine seizures drew sustained attention and added to the negativity around his name.

“If Mahama dominated by volume, Alexander Afenyo-Markin dominated the negative end of the political sentiment spectrum.”

The numbers place the Minority Leader at the bottom of the table. Of his 454 mentions, two in every three carried a negative tone. That share pushed his mean score to negative 0.27, below every other figure the report tracked.

President Mahama still led the month by volume. Hon. Afenyo-Markin, however, held the opposite distinction, leading the field in negative sentiment rather than in raw attention.

The visual weekly trend in the report helps explain the result. Hon Afenyo-Markin’s conversation did not rest on a single issue. It shifted from the GoldBod losses debate to disputes on the floor of Parliament, then to education concerns, before the narcotics controversy took over at the close of the month.

That pattern matters for a reader trying to understand the score. Each controversy carried its own critics, and the narcotics dispute arrived at the point when public attention was already high.

Between 24 and 30 September, Hon Afenyo-Markin pressed a parliamentary offensive over major cocaine seizures. His “24-hour cocaine economy” attack on President Mahama’s flagship policy became a major online talking point.

His confrontation with the government over a parliamentary inquiry layered further negativity onto the exchange, a clash that echoed the wider narcotics oversight dispute in Parliament.

The week’s overall sentiment settled at negative 0.06. Hon Afenyo-Markin received considerable narrative prominence, even though President Mahama remained the most mentioned figure.

The report also measured whether citizens discussed policy or personality around each figure. Hon Afenyo-Markin’s result sat near the middle. “His 45% Substance Index suggests that the conversation around him was almost evenly divided between policy and personality-related content.”

The finding carries weight because the issues behind his strongest visibility were highly contentious, particularly the parliamentary and narcotics disputes. A conversation split that evenly shows that voters weighed both his arguments and his image, rather than reacting to one alone.

That split also fits the wider accountability debate that has run through Ghana’s online space in recent weeks.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Dr Cassiel Ato Forson were the only two tracked figures to finish September with positive mean sentiment. Dr Bawumia recorded 630 mentions and a mean score of +0.07. Dr Ato Forson recorded 599 mentions and a mean score of +0.04.

Neither score was overwhelming. The weekly IMANI PULSE Index shows Dr Bawumia moving between 0.39 and 0.50, while Dr Ato Forson ranged between 0.40 and 0.52. Neither figure was dominated by volume, yet both held relatively resilient weekly scores in a month that punished most of their peers.

Dr Ato Forson’s position stands out because his September conversation ran through competing narratives about Ghana’s economic performance and the proposed “New Economy” agenda.

The second week of the month recorded a positive composite sentiment of +0.07 and a Substance Index of 0.72, the highest weekly substance score in the entire report. The conversation centred heavily on economic policy, GDP growth and the Finance Minister’s policy agenda.

That combination of positive tone and policy depth separates his month from the personality-driven exchanges that shaped other coverage.

The September data draws a clear line between attention and approval. President Mahama commanded the volume, Dr Bawumia and Dr Ato Forson held the only positive scores, and Hon Afenyo-Markin absorbed the heaviest negative weight.

For the Minority Leader, the figures show how quickly a single parliamentary confrontation can reshape a month of online sentiment. His late September offensive earned him prominence, but the tone attached to it carried a cost that the weekly trend records in full.

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