The Vice-President and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has emerged as the preferred presidential candidate of the electorate. This was revealed in the latest survey conducted by renowned statistician and data management consultant, Professor Smart Sarpong, who is also the Director of Research and Innovation at the Kumasi Technical University.

Per the survey, Dr Bawumia leads as the preferred presidential candidate with 38.9% in the 2024 general elections, while the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, trails with 36.1%.

According to the survey, Dr Bawumia leads in Ahafo, Ashanti, Bono, Central, Eastern, North East, Western and Western North, with remaining other presidential candidates put together making up to 3.6% gains.

The researcher first inquired from respondents which political party they were likely to support in the 2024 presidential elections. Here, 23,080 respondents, representing 38.8%, settled on the NDC, while 20,564, representing 34.5, chose the NPP. A total of 13,735 respondents, 23.1%, said they were undecided.

On the subject of which presidential candidate respondents were likely to support in the 2024 presidential elections, 23,432 respondents, representing 38.9% indicated that they would choose Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the NPP presidential candidate as the next president of Ghana while 21,237, representing 36.1%, settled on former President John Mahama. Also, 12,763 respondents, 21.4%, said they were undecided.

Findings/implications 

Professor Smart Sarpong pointed out in his findings that about 21.4 % of prospective voters were yet to decide which presidential candidate to vote for as of the end of April 2024.

“They may remain floating until they decide to vote in favour of one of the presidential candidates. Most decided region in favour of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia (NPP) is North East with 60% of voters going for him while 75.7 % of voters in the Volta region have decided on John Dramani Mahama (NDC),” the finding further pointed out.

Touching on the implications of the findings of the survey to competing political parties, Professor Smart Sarpong noted that “the NDC as a political party is more popular (38.8%) across the country than her presidential candidate, Mr John Dramani Mahama (36.1%). Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the presidential candidate of the NPP, is more preferred (38.9%) than the party NPP (34.5%) across the country.”

“The NDC leads in eight regions, namely Bono East, Greater Accra, Northern, Oti, Savannah, Upper East, Upper West and Volta. The NPP, on the other hand, leads in seven regions, namely Ahafo, Ashanti, Bono, Central, Eastern, North East and Western. Other political parties and their candidates are not showing any good signs of impact in the coming elections,” Professor Smart Sarpong’s survey findings read.

“Competence, track record and party affiliation are the key deciding factors for candidates who may win the 2024 elections. These three factors alone constitute 91.9% of deciding factors. Unemployment and improvement in the economy are the leading critical issues manifestos must seek to address head-on. Poor roads, water, and power crises, illegal mining, LGBTQ rights, corruption, and poor sanitation, among others, also feature as the most critical concerns needing attention among Ghanaian voters,” the survey findings further read.

Source: asaaseradio.com