By Godfred A. Polkuu
Sandema (U/E), Sept. 17, GNA – The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Builsa North Constituency of the Upper East Region, says it will not “go to sleep” because the Constituency is their stronghold.
Mr James Achaab, the Constituency Chairman of the Party, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sandema that the Party would continue to work hard to maintain the Parliamentary seat and ensure former President John Dramani Mahama took over the administration of the country.
He emphasized that the Party would not take anything for granted and would mount a high-spirited campaign to maintain the seat and bring Mr Mahama back to power.
“Yes, Builsa North Constituency is our stronghold, but we will not say because it is our stronghold, we will sleep over, no, we are working.
“We are working, and that is why we have taken this limited voter registration exercise very seriously,” he said.
He said the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr James Agalga, had worked hard to improve the lives of Constituents in all sectors of the economy, and supported the youth in the area when he was a Deputy Minister for the Interior.
According to the NDC Chairman, the people of the Constituency know the contributions of Mr Agalga in the Constituency over the years.
“When he was not an MP and working as a lawyer in Accra, he used to help Builsas. When he eventually got the nod as MP and Deputy Minister, he continued to help the Constituency till date,” he noted.
Mr Achaab said the NDC was not worried about the campaign activities of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for the Constituency, Mr Thomas Kofi Alonsi.
“We are not entertaining any fears at all about the campaign activities of Mr Alonsi. We in the NDC are not worried, Mr Agalga is not moved by that either. It is because Mr Alonsi wants power that is why he is visiting the Constituency frequently.
“This is not his first time, he has lost to Mr Agalga before, so we are not worried, but focused on our mandate and campaigning on our track record which is obvious in the Constituency,” he added.
The NDC had consistently won elections in the Constituency right from the 1992 general elections, but only lost to the NPP’s Mrs Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia in the 2004 elections.
The NDC took back the seat in the 2008 Parliamentary elections.
Mr Agalga won the seat in the 2016 election with 13,886 votes, representing 61.21 per cent while Mr Alonsi who contested in that election, polled 8,652 votes representing 38.14 per cent.
He again maintained the seat for the NDC in the 2020 elections when he polled 13,826 representing 56.60 per cent to beat Mr James Maurice Abakasi of the NPP who got 9,031 representing 36.97 per cent.
Some political observers in the Constituency said the contest for the seat between Mr Agalga and Mr Alonsi in the 2024 elections would be tough.
GNA