Political analyst Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante has criticised Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 presidential candidate and former Vice President, for how he explained the party’s loss in the 2024 general elections.

Dr. Asah-Asante urged Bawumia to take full responsibility for the NPP’s defeat rather than shifting blame.

Speaking on Citi FM on Monday, April 28, 2025, he said Bawumia should show leadership and honesty by admitting the party’s mistakes.

According to him, blaming others could hurt the NPP’s chances of rebuilding public trust.

Dr. Bawumia had earlier pointed to several reasons for the NPP’s defeat, including arrogance in power, rising cost of living, the failure to reshuffle ministers, the unpopular E-Levy, and the haircut policy introduced as part of the IMF’s debt restructuring.

But Dr. Asah-Asante questioned the credibility of the NPP’s post-election review, raising doubts about whether it accurately reflected key local issues that affected voter decisions in various regions and constituencies.

“I want to see the instrument that they used to collect the data. If the instrument did not try to elicit responses related to regional-specific issues and constituency-specific issues, then I have a problem with it. In election surveys, we have national issues, but beyond that, there are also regional and constituency issues,” he said.

He also stressed that if the NPP does not face its mistakes directly, the party will struggle to bounce back and regain public support.

“They have a lot of work to do, but this approach won’t help them. They need to sit down, analyse the report, and figure out how to address the issues,” Dr. Asah-Asante concluded.

“All they need to do is to be bold and admit where they went wrong. Acknowledge the failures, then move forward with integrity. But if you keep passing blame on others, you are running away from the truth. Remember, in politics, there is a day of reckoning, and that day will come when you face the reality.”