The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its presidential candidate have continuously had a surge in positive sentiments on social media, according to a just-released report by public policy think tank, IMANI Africa.
Known as the PULSE, IMANI’s analysis from June 1 to June 18, shows that positive sentiments for the NPP continued to increase, reaching around 29.68% from the previous month’s level of 25.95%.
“The NPP’s positive sentiments surged by 4% to 29.68%. This trend is consistent with the steady nature of positive sentiment growth,” the report said.
For the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its candidate, positive sentiments increased marginally, just by 1%, specifically from 22.36% to 23.11% – meaning the NDC remains very much in the shadow of the NPP when it comes to mentions on social media.
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A number of events accounted for this. The recent scandals around the sale of SSNIT hotels and clamour by NDC MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, as well as revelations from the ambulance case contributed to NDC flagbearer, John Mahama’s positive sentiments, the report found.
“The public outcry against the conduct of the Attorney-General, Godfred Dame triggered a lot of negative sentiment against candidate Bawumia and positive sentiments in favor of Candidate Mahama. Finally, issues related to Candidate Mahama’s 24-Hour policy and related commentary has featured prominently, with proponents pushing positive sentiments of the flagship campaign policy while opponents have voiced out negative sentiments.”
NPP candidate Dr. Bawumia on the other hand, is said to have gained positive buzz from his campaign tours and perhaps the highlight of it was his visit to Asante King, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and the public endorsement by influential partyman, Kennedy Agyapong. Agyapong’s support boosted comments and posts around Bawumia, leading to increased positive sentiments in his favor, the report noted.
Read Also: Kennedy Agyapong Joins Bawumia’s Ashanti Regional Campaign
“Events that also highlighted spikes were promises by the candidate and several town hall meetings and youthconnect meetings as part of his campaign. The publicity around this generated several spikes in social media posts and news stories that were heavily engaged in a positive light by supporters of the NPP.
The report additionally said both parties and candidates had negative sentiments drop marginally, although the NDC still lagged behind the NPP regarding negative sentiments.
“People that spoke of NPP negatively fell from about 38% to around 31%, showing that events within the period under review triggered less negative sentiments. NDC also had their sentiments fall albeit by almost the same margin as the NPP. This led them to an around 24% negative sentiment rate.”
While the report primarily focuses on the two major political parties, it also measures social media traction for the other contenders in the race to the December general elections.
The New Forces’ Nana Kwame Bediako appears to lead that chart, although the number of people who actively engage his posts seems to have dropped.
“He still commands engagement and a growing following, with increasing positive sentiments now around a 55% mark for his mentions. His most dominant #thenewforce hashtag has quite a reach on social media in addition to his over 12 million post reach. However, active engagements on his posts have reduced over the period.”
For most of the other smaller parties, the scores are still negligible in terms of social media sentiments.
