Bawumia's 'outperformed Christian candidates' claim misses the point entirely

Dr Bawumia’s attempt to dismiss religion as a factor in the 2024 elections by claiming he “outperformed 236 Christian NPP parliamentary candidates” is logically weak, overly simplistic, deceptive, and utterly untenable.

First, the basis of the comparison itself is false & faulty. DMB’s true competitor was John Mahama, a Christian presidential candidate. Therefore, the proper and proportional measure is presidential versus presidential, not presidential versus parliamentary.

Juxtaposing himself against his own party’s Christian PCs is misleading, as it confuses two distinct contests: one national and one local, each shaped by entirely different dynamics.

Moreover, presidential and parliamentary elections are fundamentally different. Presidential contests are shaped by national narratives and broad perceptions of leadership, while parliamentary elections depend on constituency-level factors.

Indeed, the fact that 345,465 voters supported our PCs yet rejected Dr. Bawumia at the Presidential level proves this point. Hence, collapsing these categories only reduces a complex electoral process into one simplistic conclusion only serves to distort the reality of voter behavior.

The data referenced itself does not support his argument. Out of 236 NPP Christian PCs and 215 NDC Christian PCs; at least 91% of the parliamentary contests were Christian versus Christian.

In such a scenario, religion is effectively neutralized as a deciding factor, leaving the candidates’ popularity, incumbency, and party strength as the real variables/determinants. To suggest that outperforming some Christian PCs proves religion was irrelevant ignores both context & electoral logic.

Finally, the very fact that DMB chose to measure himself against Christian PCs within his own party suggests more of a rhetorical maneuver than an empirical and honest analysis of the data.

And I dare say that if religion were inconsequential, the natural comparison would have been to his direct rival, JM, and not his own PCs, who in the end outperformed him by a margin of 345,465 votes.