Ghana's Biggest Political Accounts Are Losing Followers on X, but Smaller Accounts Are Growing
Four of Ghana's five most-followed politicians recorded declines in their X audiences between October 2025 and October 2026. Finex Insights examines the contrasting trends and what the numbers reveal about the country's political social media landscape.
Four of the Top Five Record Follower Declines
Having millions of followers does not necessarily mean an online audience will continue growing.
An analysis by Finex Insights of Ghana's ten most-followed political figures on X reveals an interesting shift in audience sizes. Between 27 October 2025 and 1 October 2026, four of the five largest political accounts recorded declines, cutting across both the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Meanwhile, the strongest percentage gains came from accounts with smaller audiences, particularly those with fewer than half a million followers.
The findings suggest that the size of an existing social media audience and its subsequent growth are two different measures worth examining.
Akufo-Addo Retains the Lead Despite Losing 30,000 Followers
Former President Nana Akufo-Addo remains Ghana's most-followed political figure on X, with approximately 2.77 million followers. However, his account recorded the largest absolute decline in the dataset, shedding an estimated 30,000 followers, equivalent to 1.1%.
President John Dramani Mahama follows with 2.47 million followers, with no material change detectable within the precision of the rounded figures.
John Dumelo occupies third position with 2.16 million followers, having lost approximately 7,600 followers, or 0.4%, over the comparison period.
The remaining two politicians completing the top five also recorded declines. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah lost approximately 20,000 followers, representing 1.9%, while former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia recorded a reduction of 8,600 followers, or 1.1%.
Combined, the four declining accounts shed approximately 66,200 followers.
One notable finding is that the declines are not exclusive to the political opposition. John Dumelo, a governing-party politician, also experienced a reduction in his follower count.
This distinction is important because the data does not support interpreting the trend purely along party lines.
Ablakwa Leads Growth Among Mid-Sized Political Accounts
While four of the five largest accounts experienced declining follower numbers, the picture changes further down the ranking.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa recorded the largest absolute and percentage increase among the politicians with measurable gains in the dataset. His account grew by approximately 18,000 followers, representing a 4.7% increase, to reach 406,000.
Sam George followed with an additional 9,000 followers, a 3.0% increase that brought his total audience to approximately 314,000.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu recorded a gain of 5,300 followers, reaching 194,000, while Joyce Bawah Mogtari added approximately 4,800 followers to reach 192,000.
Together, these four accounts gained approximately 37,100 followers.
Interestingly, Ablakwa's percentage growth of 4.7% contrasts with the relatively modest movements among the country's largest political accounts.
This illustrates an important feature of percentage-based comparisons: smaller accounts can register stronger growth rates without necessarily approaching the total audience sizes of the largest accounts.
Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang also entered the top ten with approximately 159,000 followers, replacing Alan Kyerematen, who occupied tenth position in the October 2025 ranking.
Her inclusion represents a change in the composition of the leaderboard rather than a newly created X account.
What the Follower Numbers Reveal
Three findings stand out from the comparison.
First, Ghana's largest political audiences remain concentrated among a few individuals. Akufo-Addo, Mahama and Dumelo each command more than two million followers. The gap between third-placed Dumelo and fourth-placed Oppong Nkrumah alone exceeds one million followers.
Second, audience size does not guarantee continued growth. Four of the five largest accounts recorded declines, while the four accounts ranked sixth to ninth all gained followers. This is a particularly interesting contrast because it shows that changes in audience size are not uniform across the ranking.
Third, follower movements cut across political affiliations. Although all three opposition politicians represented in the top ten lost followers, the governing party's representatives did not experience uniform growth. Dumelo recorded a decline, Mahama remained broadly unchanged, and four other governing-party figures recorded gains.
The observed pattern therefore provides a more nuanced picture than a simple comparison between governing and opposition politicians.
Do Declining Followers Mean Declining Political Popularity?
Not necessarily.
X follower counts measure the size of an account's recorded audience, not its level of public approval or electoral support.
A person may follow a politician to obtain information, monitor political developments, engage in public debate or scrutinise their activities. Followers may also include individuals living outside Ghana.
Similarly, changes in follower counts cannot independently establish why an account gained or lost followers.
Understanding those movements would require additional evidence, including account activity, posting frequency, engagement trends, audience composition and platform-related changes.
For this reason, the Finex Insights analysis should be understood as a comparison of social media audience sizes rather than a political popularity poll.
The Bigger Picture: Tracking Ghana's Political Digital Footprint
The October 2026 comparison highlights an interesting development in Ghana's political digital landscape: the country's largest political accounts are not necessarily those recording audience growth.
Four of the top five lost followers, while measurable gains were concentrated among accounts ranked sixth to ninth.
Going forward, tracking these figures alongside engagement rates, posting activity and audience interactions could provide a richer understanding of how Ghanaian politicians use X and how their online audiences evolve.
For now, the data offers a useful reminder that having the largest audience and growing that audience are two different achievements.
Data source and methodology: Finex Insights compilation of publicly displayed X profile follower counts extracted on 1 October 2026, compared with its dataset of 27 October 2025. Current totals are rounded, and reported changes are approximate. The ranking covers individuals professionally active in politics who have held or sought elected office in government. Historical comparisons are based on the Finex Insights dataset. Join our WhatsApp group to receive data viz insights on Ghana and Africa directly: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JCqBvBWfqjILTxiaCqFhCx?mode=wwt
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