Lecturer who led 2020 election survey appointed Director of Research at Presidency - Reports

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed a Senior Lecturer of the University of Ghana Political Science Department, Dr. Isaac Owusu Mensah to replace the late Victor Newmann as Director of Research at the seat of government Jubilee House.

Readers of MyNewsGh.com will recall Dr. Isaac Owusu Mensah was the team leader of the University’s political Science opinion poll that predicted President Akufo-Addo would be retained. The survey by the Department of the University of Ghana predicted a one touch victory for President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in the December 7, 2020 presidential election.

The opposition NDC questioned the survey and said Dr. Owusu Mensah was an Akufo-Addo “poodle” whose political neutrality was questionable.

The Owusu Mensah-led survey was claimed to have covered 100 constituencies carefully selected across all 16 regions with 11,949 respondents out of a targeted 12,000 in a random sampling manner.

It said President Akufo-Addo would win with a 51.7 percent lead if the elections were to be held “today”, today being the day of survey while the presidential candidate of the major opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama was expected to follow with 40.4 percent of the votes cast.

The candidate of the Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Christian Kwabena Andrews, placed third in the survey.

All things being equal, the survey was largely reflected in the final outcome on December 7, 2020.

Owusu Mensah’s forte is Politics and development in Ghana and currently teaches Political Research Methodology at the University of Ghana.

His current research is Election and Democratic Development in Ghana.

While it is unknown to many people, Dr Owusu Mensah serves on the NPP’s seven-member sub-committee for international affairs. The committee was sworn in by the NPP national campaign manager Mr. Mac Manu in Accra, NPP campaign Headquarters just before the election and before the UG Political Science department survey.

The members of the sub-committee include Mr. Ataffua Danso (Director, International Affair Directorate at the Party Headquarters), Dr. Benard Kwame Oppong-Kusi (NPP Japan Branch Chairman), Mrs. Charity Assan (NPP South Africa Branch Chairperson), Mr. Ababio Akwasi (Director of Diaspora Affairs at the presidency), Hon. Charles Owiredu (Deputy Foreign Minister), Mrs. Adwoa Van Viker (Director of Human Resources, Ministry of Education).