A Marketable candidate is what the New Patriotic Party needs as they are preparing for the party’s primaries to elect the flagbearer to lead them into the 2024 general elections. Strong brands and popular commodities sell faster on the market. The NPP cannot overlook the brand of the persona they will present to Ghanaians in the upcoming presidential primaries.
The candidate’s popularity matters most as well as the competency to break the eight-year cycle. In May 2008, Larry Gibson predicted that Prof. John Atta Mills was more popular than Nana Akufo-Addo, so as long as President Mills was running, Nana Akufo-Addo could not be expected to win the 2008 election. Prof. Mills had been consistently on every NDC presidential ticket since 1996. Meanwhile, Nana Akufo-Addo was first contesting the election as the flagbearer. Prof. Atta Mills was running his third election as a presidential candidate and had been re-elected to lead his party into the 2008 elections. He had the kind of superior exposure to Nana Akufo-Addo. As a Vice President, Atta Mills was groomed to take over from his boss (Jerry Rawlings).
The NPP must appreciate how important years of name recognition and photo identification are in Ghanaian elections. Therefore, voters across the country recognize who the presidential candidate is and identify him from his photograph. There is nobody among the NPP aspiring presidential hopefuls who can be recognized by Ghanaians than Vice President Dr Bawumia. The man they have marketed since 2008. He has been on the campaign trail of the NPP as the Running Mate for four consecutive elections.
They attributed their electoral fortunes to him. Indeed, he played significant roles to ensure victories for the party. If they have such a candidate, why must they go for an entirely new person who needs more time to be marketed before he could be accepted by the Ghanaian people? They don’t need more resources and time to market Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, because he is an already-made quality brand on the market. It would be suicidal to choose any other person to lead the party than the man whom they can bet their last penny on.
Those of us who live on the ground know and understand who the Ghanaian electorates need. We interact daily with the people on the ground. Despite the numerous attacks on Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the persona of the Vice President still remains intact and he is the NPP’s surest bet to break the eight-year cycle for the party.
Irrespective of whatever approach the NDC may use to dent the brand image of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, he will stand firm against the storm and come out much more vital than ever before to win the 2024 general elections for Ghanaians. Bawumia remains the solid rock the NPP can rely on, as they soldier on to break the eight in 2024. The NDC may try to push him but he will remain steadfast.
They have tried so much to destroy him knowing very well that he could lead the NPP to break the eight, but they will not succeed. Let them continue on this tangent and wait for elections day to see their smoothness level. I have no doubt in my mind that the voting public in their right senses and wisdom will come out and vote massively for Dr Bawumia due to his remarkable records. With Dr Bawumia, the NPP will surely break the eight to make a remarkable history. Ghanaians shall witness an NPP Government handing over the administration to itself.
Vice President Bawumia has the panacea to the NPP’s victory in 2024. He faces no real challenger for the party’s presidential ticket for the 2024 elections. Although all the other aspirants are dedicated party members and are somehow better than the NDC’s John Mahama, none of them can lead the party to achieve their motive of breaking the eight-year presidential cycle in Ghana. The NPP should not overlook the fact that John Mahama is one of the most popular politicians in the country. It takes a superstar candidate to beat John Mahama as he is determined to return to the seat of government.
The NDC is yet to elect its Presidential Candidate, but it is abundantly clear that Ex-President Mahama would emerge victorious. He is the most popular and marketable among the aspirants. The NPP needs the Bawumia Brand to thwart his (John Mahama) effort and retire him from active politics.
I shall return….
Authored by
Nana Abrewa Nokwarfo
@ Anomabo Dwendwenbadze
E-mail: _nanaabrewanokwarfo@gmail.com
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