Aspirant First National Vice Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has dismissed claims that there is an agenda to Islamise Ghana, arguing that the country’s political history and voting patterns demonstrate a strong culture of religious tolerance.
According to him, the outcome of the 2024 presidential election provided clear evidence that religion does not ordinarily determine the political choices of Ghanaians.
Speaking at the Danquah Institute’s 2026 Liberty Lecture on Tuesday, August 25, Dr Abdul-Hamid argued that if there were an organised agenda to transform Ghana into an Islamic state, the presidential candidacy of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the 2024 election would have provided an opportunity for Muslims to rally behind him on religious grounds.
He said the failure of Muslim voters to overwhelmingly support Dr Bawumia, who was the first Muslim presidential candidate of a major political party, undermined claims that Muslims were pursuing a political agenda based on religion.
“So, Mr Chairman, I want to ask, is there an agenda to Islamise Ghana? For me, it does not seem that from the political choices of Muslims in Ghana that there’s an agenda to Islamise Ghana,” he said.
Dr Abdul-Hamid said Dr Bawumia’s candidacy would have served as a catalyst for such an agenda if one existed.
“If such an agenda existed, Mr Chairman, the candidacy of Mahamudu Bawumia would have been the catalyst, and his candidature would have been the opportunity for Muslims to rally around such an agenda, but they didn’t,” he stated.
He cited voting patterns in a number of constituencies with significant Muslim populations to support his argument.
He noted that constituencies including Ayawaso East, Ayawaso North, Asawase, Ejura, Tamale North, Tamale Central, Tamale South and Sagnarigu recorded strong support for President John Dramani Mahama, a Christian, over Dr Bawumia in the 2024 presidential election.
“Muslim-dominated constituencies like Ayawaso East, Ayawaso North, Asawase, Ejura, Tamale North, Tamale Central, Tamale South, Sagnarigu, all voted massively for the Christian John Dramani Mahama against the Muslim Mahamudu Bawumia,” he said.
The NPP aspirant argued that the voting pattern reflected a broader characteristic of Ghanaian society, where religious identity does not necessarily translate into political allegiance.
“So that means that, consciously, in the Ghanaian psyche, our religious differences do not spill over into our political consideration,” he added.
His comments come amid renewed public discussions about the possibility of Islamisation, particularly following debates surrounding proposals to introduce Arabic as an optional language at the basic school level and government’s interest in developing interest-free banking.
Dr Abdul-Hamid cautioned against narratives that could create unnecessary religious divisions, stressing the importance of protecting Ghana’s longstanding tradition of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
He said Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths had historically lived together peacefully in Ghana and urged citizens to protect that tradition rather than allow political or social debates to undermine religious harmony.
