Former Dome Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has admitted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) bears collective responsibility for both Ghana’s economic challenges and its defeat in the 2024 general elections.
Addressing party members, she said the party’s loss was the result of internal failures, poor governance choices and disregard for public concerns, rather than the actions of a single individual.
“We ruined everything ourselves,” she said. “We turned a deaf ear to Ghanaians, and we dipped our hands into the coffers of pensioners.”
Against this backdrop, Ms Adwoa Safo argued that it is unfair to single out former Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as the main cause of the country’s economic difficulties or the party’s electoral loss.
She questioned claims that Dr Bawumia had primary control over economic decisions during the party’s time in government.
“Was Dr Mahamudu Bawumia a Finance Minister?” she asked. “When MPs raised concerns, did we remove the Finance Minister? Did we do that? Or did we allow him to completely ruin the economy before we finally did the needful?”
To further illustrate her point, she compared the structure of government leadership to a transport system, suggesting responsibility rests with those formally in charge.
“If you are a bus conductor and your master, the driver, is driving, do you push him away and take over his duties?” she asked. “Let us be truthful to ourselves.”
Ms Adwoa Safo stressed that the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 elections was driven by multiple factors, including governance lapses and financial mismanagement, and should not be reduced to blame directed at one person.
“There were many factors that led to our electoral defeat in the 2024 election,” she said. “It was not the fault of one individual.”
