Former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has dismissed suggestions that religion or ethnicity played any role in the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) defeat in the 2024 general elections.
Addressing widespread claims that former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s religious background contributed to the party’s loss.
Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stated that post-election data collected by the NPP does not support those assertions.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Avle on Monday, October 6, 2025, the former Suame legislator said investigations conducted across the party’s strongholds, including the Ashanti Region, revealed no evidence that Dr. Bawumia’s faith or ethnic identity influenced voter behavior.
“The enquiry we did in the Ashanti region did not produce that; it is not one of the factors,” he explained.
“In fact, those two questions, ethnicity and religion were asked everywhere in the Ashanti region, and the Oquaye committee also asked similar questions. The conclusions don’t support this at all. And yet, people are trying to inject that into it.”
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Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu urged party members to avoid divisive narratives and instead focus on a constructive analysis of the factors that truly contributed to the party’s electoral defeat.
He also addressed the issue of accountability, cautioning against blaming Dr. Bawumia solely for the NPP’s loss.
While acknowledging that the former Vice President was a central figure in government, he stressed that executive authority ultimately rested with the President.
“Even though the Vice President and the President don’t share responsibility, the presidency encapsulates the two, so you cannot extricate yourself, especially when you sit in cabinet meetings,” he said.
Responding to suggestions that Dr. Bawumia’s role as head of the Economic Management Team (EMT) made him the face of Ghana’s economic difficulties, Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu clarified that the EMT’s mandate was advisory, not executive.
“That is a reality,” he admitted. “But nobody should forget that executive authority is vested in one person. That is not to extricate Dr. Bawumia from every blame. The Economic Management Team he headed their role was only advisory.”
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