Any NDC flag bearer has a 30% lead in Election 2028 – Kofi Bentil

Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) enters the 2028 election with a built-in advantage, regardless of who leads its ticket.

Bentil made the assertion on TV3’s The Key Points on Saturday while analysing the relative strengths of Ghana’s two major political parties ahead of the next presidential race.

“There is a crucial thing that should be said,” he argued. “The power of incumbency gives every NDC candidate a thirty percent lead immediately.”

According to him, President John Dramani Mahama’s current standing and public goodwill automatically transfer electoral capital to whoever the governing party selects as its flagbearer.

“Anybody the NDC puts up has thirty percent going for them straight away because of the goodwill President Mahama is banking for them,” Bentil said.

He cautioned, however, that the advantage is not guaranteed to last, stressing that the next three years will be decisive. “There are three years to come and these three years are going to be the test,” he noted. “The spending will start, the jockeying will start, and the scandals will come up. They are cooking them right now.”

Bentil also highlighted a unique challenge facing the governing party: President Mahama will not be on the ballot in 2028, having served two terms. “They are changing horse,” he said. “President Mahama is not on the ballot.”

He contrasted Mahama’s political durability with that of potential successors. “President Mahama has been at the frontline of Ghanaian politics for at least thirty years,” Bentil stated. “He has been tested left, right, and centre, and none of these gentlemen have gone through that.”

The comments come as discussions intensify around succession within the NDC, which is expected to present a new presidential candidate for the first time since 2008.

That election saw the late Professor John Evans Atta Mills win a closely fought run-off against Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Bentil warned that replacing a seasoned political figure with an untested candidate carries risks, even with incumbency on the party’s side.

He added that performance in office and internal discipline will ultimately determine whether the NDC can convert its early advantage into an electoral victory in 2028.