Low Turnout in Six Regions Cost Us the Election – Bawumia
The former Vice President says over 1.8 million voters in NPP strongholds abstained, tipping the scales in the 2024 election
- Bawumia blames NPP’s 2024 election loss on voter apathy in six major strongholds
- Over 1.8 million supporters in regions like Ashanti and Greater Accra abstained from voting
- Other factors cited include economic hardship
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 presidential candidate and former Vice President, has attributed the party’s loss in the recent general elections to widespread voter apathy, particularly in six key regions that have traditionally supported the NPP.
Speaking on April 28 during the third day of the party’s “Thank You” tour in the Ahafo Region, Bawumia pointed to Greater Accra, Ashanti, Eastern, Western, Bono, and Central regions as areas where significant numbers of supporters stayed away from the polls.
“These six regions, which are considered our strongholds, recorded high levels of abstention,” he said. “Greater Accra alone had 571,000 people who didn’t vote, followed by Ashanti with 489,000, Eastern with 258,000, Central with 230,000, Western with 164,000, and Bono with 100,000. If those numbers had turned out, the outcome might have been very different.”
Beyond voter disengagement, Bawumia acknowledged that other issues played a role in the party’s defeat. These included a perceived arrogance of power, economic hardships, the lack of government reshuffles, the unpopular E-Levy, and the contentious debt restructuring policy, commonly referred to as the “haircut.”
