Razak Kojo Opoku, leader of the Concerned Voters Movement
People can endorse a candidate verbally but vote against the same candidate.
People endorse products and services yet never patronize those products and services.
It is only a naive and inexperienced person who would put all his trust and confidence in endorsement at the expense of acceptance. Acceptance is superior to endorsement.
You can be endorsed and not accepted. And you can be accepted without endorsement.
In 2012 at a lavish news conference, Glo Mobile Ghana officially launched its operations in Ghana and followed this with massive celebrity endorsement. But this never translated into acceptance of their product.
In fact, this had little impact on the Ghanaian market compared to the other telecommunication companies.
Again, Menzgold signed up and endorsed by some heavyweight celebrities yet failed to stand the test of time.
Ahead of the 2020 Presidential election, the NDC Presidential candidate, John Mahama, received massive endorsements from the following groups but failed to win the 2020 general elections:
1. The National Concerned Small Scale Miners Association of Ghana endorsed John Mahama for the 2020 general election. The Association claimed of having over 1 million members who were going to vote against Akufo-Addo in 2020.
2. Okada Riders Association endorsed John Mahama for the 2020 general election. They promise to vote overwhelmingly for NDC and John Mahama. This association claimed to have a membership of over 800,000.
3. Menzgold customers threatened to vote against Akufo-Addo. The aggrieved Menzgold customers promised to give John Mahama over 600,000 votes in the 2020 election.
4. Some workers of the collapsed banks due to Mahama's mismanagement of the economy between 2012-2016, promised to vote for the same John Mahama in the 2020 general election.
5. A-Plus and his group, The People’s Project (TPP) campaigned vigorously against Akufo-Addo. The TPP supported the interest of John Mahama at the detriment of Akufo-Addo in the 2020 general election.
6. Some CSOs and media houses seriously campaigned against Akufo-Addo re-election in the 2020 general election.
7. Some smaller political parties also endorsed John Mahama for the 2020 general election.
8. Notable celebrities, religious leaders and traditional leaders also endorsed John Mahama for the 2020 general election.
If it was about propaganda endorsement then certainly John Mahama should have won the 2020 general election with ease.
Political endorsement is good but it is not good enough for political acceptance and electoral victory.
