The Head of the Political Science Department at the University of Ghana, Prof Alidu Seidu says the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will struggle to project its running mate Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh to voters who are not part of their party.
There’s a perception that the former Education Minister is arrogant, and this has been compounded by a recent utterance he made about the country’s power challenges when some citizens were requesting a load-shedding timetable.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Upfront with Raymond Acquah, the Political Scientist wondered if the party could effectively execute the task of projecting him differently within the limited time frame.
“We have just six months to elections. Yes, you can convince the NPP supporters that ‘this is not how Napo is. Few people have worked with Napo and they know that these are perceptions and that Napo is not like that.’
“But we the people outside NPP or even people within the party who haven’t fraternised with him, how long will it take them to change their perception?” he quizzed.
He continued “And a lot of people have been referring to the recent ‘dumsor’ which a lot of Ghanaians were angered. Because ‘dumsor’ has affected their work, businesses, and personal life.”
But the National Organiser of the NPP and a confidante of the NPP running mate, Henry Nana Boakye, says in the coming days the party will roll out its strategy to counter all the negative issues raised about Dr Prempeh.
“I have worked closely with him, so for me, I see a lot of confidence in him. I see somebody who is committed and dedicated to his work, I see that he has the energy to always turn things around.
“As a political party, the ticket must be sold to Ghanaians and that is what we are going to do,” he stated.
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