By Edward Acquah
Accra, Nov. 30, GNA – Delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will on Saturday, December 3, 2023, go to the polls to elect parliamentary candidates in constituencies that the Party does not have sitting Members of Parliament.
Christened “Orphan Constituencies”, the exercise is crucial for the Party as it marks the first step towards reclaiming the seats it had but lost in the last elections.
The Greater Accra Region is of paramount interest to the NPP in the 2024 Parliamentary Election due to the number of seats the Party lost in the Region in 2020.
Out of the 34 seats in the Greater Accra Region, the Party currently holds 14 seats, after it lost seven seats in the 2020 Parliamentary Election.
The Party failed to retain its seats in La Dadekotokpon, Krowor, Ledzokuku, Tema East, Madina, Adenta, and Ablekuma Central constituencies.
Out of 20 “Orphan Constituencies” in the region, the elections would be keenly contested in 17 constituencies, with three constituencies fielding unopposed candidates – La Dadekotokpon, Ada, and Tema East.
Whereas some constituencies have only two persons contesting, some constituencies have as many as six aspirants, including current and former appointees, and former MPs.
One key constituency to watch is Okaikwei North where six candidates will lock horns.
The aspirants are: Fuseinni Issah, a former MP for Okaikwei North; Nana Ama Dokua Asiamah-Adjei, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Akropong, and Alberta Afia Akoto, a former Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC).
The rest are Kofi Adepa Nyarko, Prince Owusu Mensah, and Ken Kuranchie, the Publisher of the Daily Searchlight Newspaper.
It will be an interesting contest given that Nana Ama Dokua has abandoned her ‘confortable’ seat in Akropong to face off with five other aspirants in a constituency held by the National Democratic Congress.
The Adenta constituency is also expected to witness a keen contest between Kwasi Obeng-Fosu, a former Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Energy; Akosua Manu Kozie, Deputy Director of the National Youth Authority, and Winfred Nartey Obimpeh, a gospel musician.
The Ablekuma Central contest has Jefferson Sackey, a Deputy Director of Communication at the Office of the President; Collins Amoah, a businessman, Ebenezer Nii Narh Nartey, a former MP, and Samuel Brako-Amoafo, a businessman.
The Odododiodio Constituency will witness a two-horse race between Nii Lantey Bannerman and Mannaf Sowah.
Likewise, in Krowor, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, a former Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, is being challenged by Lartey Odai.
Another battleground will be at Ledzokuku, where Dr Bernard Okoe Boye, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Insurance Authority, and former MP for the area, faces opposition from Clifford Martey, Ibrahim Adjei, and Collins Nii Ashitey Ollenu.
In the Korle Klottey Constituency, Prince Debrah, who represented the NPP in the 2020 Parliamentary Election, faces stiff opposition from Nii Noi Nortey, a former NPP Chairman for Korle Klottey, Rexford O. Ansah, and Harry H. Quartey.
The NPP has set January 20, 2024, for the election of its parliamentary candidates in constituencies where the Party has sitting MPs.
It would open nominations from December 20 to 22, 2023.
GNA