Political Analyst Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante has criticised the 2024 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, over his explanation for the party’s defeat in the 2024 general elections, urging him to openly admit its failures rather than shift blame.

Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Monday, April 28, 2025, Dr. Asah-Asante advised the former Vice President to be bold, acknowledge where the party faltered, and move forward with integrity, warning that shifting blame would only harm the NPP.

“All that they have to do is that they should be bold and say that we got it wrong, we failed here, and then we proceed on the route of integrity, but once you begin to pass back, you begin to apportion blame towards some people then obviously you are running away from the truth.

“But remember that in politics there is a day of reckoning, and that day of reckoning is when you come face to face with the reality,” he said.

Dr. Bawumia had earlier attributed the NPP’s loss to factors such as the arrogance of power, the high cost of living, the failure to reshuffle government officials, the introduction of the E-Levy, and the controversial haircut policy.

However, Dr. Asah-Asante challenged the validity of the methods used in compiling the party’s post-election report, questioning whether it genuinely reflected the regional and constituency-specific issues that influenced voter behaviour.

“I want to see the instrument that they used to collect the data. If the instrument did not try to elicit responses privileged to regional-specific issues and constituency-specific issues, then I have a problem with the instrument that they used. Because in election surveys, we have national issues, and beyond that, we have regional, constituency issues,” he stressed.

Dr. Asah-Asante warned that unless the NPP confronts its shortcomings directly, its chances of recovery would remain slim.

“They have a lot to do, but this whole approach will not help them. They need to sit down and look at the report and see how they can deal with the report,” he concluded.