Akufo-Addo should not lead Akwatia by-election campaign – Prof. Gyampo

August 30, 2025

CEO Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Professor Ransford Gyampo,

Professor of Political Science at the University of Ghana and CEO Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has cautioned the New Patriotic Party (NPP) against allowing former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to lead its campaign activities as the party seeks to rebuild after its 2024 electoral defeat.

According to him, the decision to allow President Akufo-Addo to lead the NPP delegation to the funeral of the late MP shows that the party has not come to terms with the monumental factors that caused its defeat in the 2024 elections.

He argued that Akufo-Addo was a key factor in that loss, and presenting him at the forefront of such events only tells Ghanaians that the party has not learned its lessons, stressing that as a retired president, he should be allowed to step back.

“He was there, he led the people to the funeral of the departed MP, and I thought that you see, the party still has not come to grasp some of the monumental factors that led to their monumental defeat in the 2024 elections.

“If they don’t know, I am still telling them that President Akufo-Addo was one key factor who led to their defeat, and so in going to that funeral and asking him to lead that delegation, for me, it’s a way of telling Ghanaians that we still have not even learnt. He is a retired president so let him rest”.

Speaking on TV3’s The Key Points on Saturday, August 30, 2025, Prof. Gyampo said the NPP has yet to fully appreciate the enormity of the task ahead, stressing that the party must reorganize properly if it is to remain relevant in Ghana’s political space.

He argued that Akufo-Addo should be allowed to retire gracefully and serve as an elder statesman offering guidance from behind the scenes rather than being positioned frontally in the NPP’s rebuilding process.

Prof. Gyampo further commended voters in Akwatia for exhibiting rational choices during the recent by-election. He explained that unlike in the past when sympathy votes or party loyalty determined outcomes, voters now focus more on issues such as development, education, jobs, the economy, and illegal mining.

“Gone are the days when a party could field just anybody and win because of party identification or sympathy. The factors we see today show that voters are rational, and that should guide party strategies going forward,” he noted.

The political scientist maintained that whether the NPP or NDC wins the Akwatia seat, it will not significantly change the balance of power in Parliament. What matters most, he said, is how the NPP undertakes genuine reorganization and reconciliation to avoid the risk of disintegration.

“Unless the NPP undertakes a very drastic rebuilding process, their chances in future elections will remain bleak. The current leadership is part of the problem, yet they are being allowed to shepherd the rebuilding process in a way that perpetuates their own interests,” Prof. Gyampo cautioned.

He urged the party to involve respected elders like former President John Agyekum Kufuor in efforts to reconcile and restructure, warning that failure to do so could push the party towards fragmentation.