Former Member of Parliament for Subin, Eugene Boakye Antwi, has stated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost the 2024 general elections because it failed to listen to the concerns of Ghanaians.

In an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Channel One TV’s Face to Face on Tuesday, July 1, the former MP admitted that the party’s defeat came as no surprise to some members, including himself.

“I’m not worried because some of us anticipated it [2024 electoral defeat]. If you fail to listen to people, they punish you. So, as politicians, we must constantly be listening and hearing people out. And that is what we failed to do,” he said.

Mr. Boakye Antwi further noted that the most effective years of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s administration were from 2018 to 2020, before the outbreak of COVID-19.

He attributed the success of that period to the motivation of seeking re-election and the resultant cooperation within government circles.

“We have to be very frank with ourselves, the best years of Akufo-Addo’s 8 years [tenure] were 2018, 2020, before COVID-19 struck. Those were his best years. In your first term, you are expected to be voted for the second term, so you’re working towards your second term. So there’s more cooperation, and because you know you have to go and face the electorate again, you are careful of certain mistakes,” he explained.

He lamented that during Akufo-Addo’s second term, performance declined due to reduced electoral accountability.

“But the second term, because you’re not going to contest again, I think all hell broke loose and it cost us,” he added.