My Nkrumah Comments Were Twisted for Political Gain — Opoku Prempeh
Former NPP running mate says his comments were distorted for political gain during the 2024 campaign.
- Opoku Prempeh says his Nkrumah remarks were twisted for political gain
- He claims opponents misrepresented his comments during the 2024 campaign
- He insists such political distortions are common but short-lived
Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Vice Presidential Candidate, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has claimed that his controversial remarks about Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, were deliberately misrepresented for political advantage during the 2024 election campaign.
He said his statements were taken out of context by political opponents and sections of the media in an effort to shape negative public perception about him.
Speaking at the University of Ghana’s Department of Political Science on his experience as running mate to the NPP’s 2024 presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Dr. Opoku Prempeh noted that such distortions are common in political communication.
He argued that political actors often reinterpret statements to suit their own narratives, insisting his comments were clear but intentionally twisted.
“When I talked about Nkrumah, most of the reportage was twisted,” he said. “In politics, when people want to twist your words, they will. But it doesn’t last forever.”
Dr. Opoku Prempeh also dismissed claims describing him as arrogant, saying the perception was created by critics who had never personally interacted with him.
He explained that before accepting the running mate position, he anticipated such political attacks and concluded that some actors would attempt to label him negatively.
“Before I started this running mate role, nobody ever said I was arrogant. But they did an analysis and tagged me as such,” he stated.
Despite the controversy, he said he remains unfazed by such criticisms, adding that attempts to misrepresent public figures eventually lose credibility.
At his unveiling in Kumasi on June 9, 2024, Dr. Opoku Prempeh had stated that no Ghanaian president, including Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, had outperformed former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo—a comment that sparked widespread public backlash and calls for an apology.
He later issued an apology, expressing regret over the remarks and the controversy they generated.
