By Francis Kobena Tandoh
Executive Director of polling firm Global InfoAnalytics, Mussa Dankwah says one of the leading conteders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential election, Kennedy Agyapong did not perform to expectation because he lost campaign focus and discipline in the crucial final weeks to the election.
According to Dankwah, Ken Agyapong’s controversial negative attacks on the former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia which went rival, eroded delegate support — and this, combined with a strong Bawumia lead, was decisive in the primary outcome.
1. Agyapong lost focus late in the campaign
Dankwah explained that Agyapong’s campaign lost momentum in the final weeks, especially after a highly-publicised incident where he harshly attacked rival Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in a video. This shift negatively affected his support among NPP delegates. After the video went viral, polling showed his numbers declining steadily — a sign delegates were turned off by the tone and content of that interaction.
2. A video of his attack on Bawumia hurt his ratings
He pointed out that the viral video of Agyapong calling Bawumia a liar became a turning point in the race. According to Dankwah, such antagonistic messaging was not well received by party delegates, leading to continuous drops in his popularity right before the primary.
3. Delegate support dynamics favored Bawumia
Earlier in the race, Dankwah’s tracking data showed Bawumia had a strong and stable lead, while Agyapong could only win if Bawumia’s support dropped dramatically — which did not happen. In other words, there wasn’t a realistic pathway for Agyapong to overtake Bawumia given the distribution of delegate support.
4. He underperformed relative to polling expectations
After the election, Dankwah analysed that Agyapong didn’t meet the prediction his firm had estimated — falling outside the normal margin of error — while Bawumia’s result was closer to expectations. Dankwah attributed Agyapong’s underperformance partly to changing public opinion and campaign missteps.
The NPP held its presidential primary on Saturday to elect a flagbearer to lead the largest opposition party into the 2028 general election.
Former Vice President Dr Bawumia polled 110,643 or 56.48 percent to emerge the leader of the party for the second time running after being elected in 2023 to lead the party in the 2024 presidential election.
His closest contender, Kennedy Agyapong, polled 46,554, representing 23.76 percent, while first timers Dr Bryan Acheampong and Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum polled 36,303 or 18.53 percent and 1,999 or 1.02 percent respectively.
Former General Secretary Engineer Kwabena Agyei Agyepong polled 402 valid votes, representing 0.21 percent. Enditem
Source: Ghana Eye Report
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