A former Attorney-General in the erstwhile administration of late ex President, Prof John Atta Mills, Betty Mould Iddrisu, has challenged an assertion by the Chief of Staff, Frema Opare that the Ashanti Region will deliver votes for the New Patriotic (NPP) in the December 7 polls.
Betty Mould Iddrisu claimed that the tables have turned in the favour of the NDC against the NPP, which has long seen the Ashanti Region as its ‘World Bank’ in terms of votes.
Indeed, the Ashanti Region has voted massively for the NPP over the years. In 1996, the NPP had 65.8 percent of presidential votes from the region as against 32.8 percent for the NDC. The numbers increased in the 2020 elections when President Akufo-Addo had 71% as against 26% for John Mahama.
The comment from Betty Mould Iddrisu follows a statement by the Chief of Staff during an interaction with journalists in Kumasi that the people of the Ashanti Region love the NPP and will help the party ‘break the 8’.
2024 Polls: Ashanti Region will give NPP the numbers to break the 8 – Frema Osei-Opare
“The love for the party is so supreme that people were willing to come together to put Ashanti forward and become the biggest contributors to breaking the 8. They will give us the numbers, it is possible, we will break the 8,” Frema Opare said at the inauguration of the Ashanti Region NPP campaign team in March 2024.
She further stated that “Dr Bawumia will win the elections, and we shall break the 8”.
But it seems the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) may have some other facts that the Chief of Staff is not privy to. Betty Mould Iddrisu, a woman who was once rumoured to be a running mate for John Mahama, said the facts on the ground are different because the tables have turned in favour of the NDC.
“I’m on the grounds. It’s what I know. It’s what I see. It’s what I’m part of….my area of politics is in the Ashanti Region and there’s been a dramatic turnaround in the favour of the NDC because they’ve seen how they are living…they’ve realized that one village, one this, one that, …they’ve realized that it’s all talk….they’ve realized that John Dramani Mahama was set up to be vilified,” she stressed.
Betty Mound Iddrisu went on to add that she is confident that John Mahama would rather win the 2024 elections.
It’s about eight months to the country’s General Election and the NDC and NPP are battling it out. They both want to capture votes especially in the determinant regions and it seems the campaign has intensified to get the best from the regions.