Kwesi Pratt ‘mocks’ Senior Researcher at KTU after his election poll failed

Veteran journalist and Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, has cast doubt on the credibility of election polls in Ghana, saying many of them do not reflect reality.

Pratt criticised Prof Smart Sarpong, a Senior Researcher at Kumasi Technical University, over a 2024 election poll which predicted a win for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer at the time.

According to Pratt, he cautioned the academic before the poll was released, but Prof Sarpong insisted his work was scientific. He said the actual election results later showed that the projections were inaccurate.

“There was a professor who came and said he had done research and was going to launch it. I warned him but he didn’t listen and went ahead. After the election, the reality of his prediction was completely different; the results were far from what he projected,” Pratt said during a panel discussion on Peace FM’s Kokrokoo on January 29, 2026.

He went on to mock the professor, adding, “A whole professor…in the olden days when you heard of a professor, it meant the person was extremely intelligent. But if you are a professor and your poll flops, then… For me, I am not that interested in such polls.”

Pratt stressed that the polls were far removed from the actual election outcome.

The survey by Prof Smart Sarpong, released on November 23, 2024, projected that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia would obtain 49.1% of the votes.

It placed John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress second with 45.8%, Nana Kwame Bediako of the New Force Movement third with 2.2%, and Alan Kyerematen of the Movement for Change fourth with 1.2%.

“As of November 16, 2024 (four weeks to the elections), NPP’s Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was in the lead with 49.1%, followed by NDC’s John Mahama with 45.8%, Nana Kwame Bediako with 2.2% and Alan Kyerematen with 1.2%.

All other candidates combined obtained 1.7%. It is clear from this report that the 2024 elections could be won in the first round by only one of the two leading political parties, with the NPP having a higher chance of clinching victory,” excerpts of the study stated.

However, after the 2024 general elections, John Dramani Mahama won with 6,591,790 votes, representing 56.42% of the total votes cast.

Dr Mahamudu Bawumia followed with 4,877,611 votes, representing 41.75%.

Nana Kwame Bediako, also known as Cheddar, emerged as the leading candidate among the smaller parties with 88,944 votes, representing 0.76% of the total votes…CONTINUE MORE READING>>>