Bolgatanga, June 17, GNA – All is set for delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to elect their 2020 Parliamentary Candidates in the remaining three Constituencies in the Upper East Region on June 20, 2020, according to Mr Elvis Figo, Deputy Regional Secretary.
While in the Tempane Constituency, the incumbent Member of Parliament and Deputy Attorney General, Mr Joseph Dindiok Kpemka, is going unopposed, delegates in the Navrongo Central Constituency would have to choose from two astute ministers to contest for the Parliamentary seat in the forthcoming general election.
Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, the current MP and Minister of Aviation is keenly contested by Madam Tangoba Abayage, the Upper East Regional Minister in the Navrongo Central Constituency which is known to be a swing Constituency.
The Aviation Minister first entered Parliament after winning by-election in 2003 after the death of the incumbent Mr John Setuni Achuliwor, who was Deputy Minister of Communications and Technology under former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s Administration.
He retained his seat in the 2004 elections and was appointed the Manpower Development and Employment Minister in 2005 before being reshuffled to head the Ministry of Energy in 2006.
Although, the NPP lost power to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2008 election, Mr Adda retained his seat, but, lost it in 2012 to the then NDC parliamentary candidate, Mr Mark Woyongo.
The MP came back in 2016 and reclaimed the seat from the NDC and in 2017 was appointed Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, he was later moved to the Aviation Ministry, his current position.
According to the Aviation Minister his next tenure of office would witness massive development that would transform Navrongo into a modern city. He told the constituents that he was the best to retain the seat.
“We have a lot of infrastructure currently ongoing in Navrongo and where we are, we are at the spirit of modernization of Navrongo, to transform Navrongo into a modern city that should be comparable to any city anywhere in the world. That is my agenda, 2020 to 2024 is the agenda for the modernization of Navrongo,” he indicated.
On the other hand, Madam Abayage who is a gender activist, a diplomat and is contesting the primaries for the first time had worked at the Department of Gender for so many years both in the Upper East Region and outside the region as well as the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation URA Radio in Bolgatanga.
In 2017, President Akufo-Addo appointed Madam Abayage, affectionately called the “Lioness” by her supporters, Ghana’s Ambassador to Italy and in 2018, she was called back to succeed Mr Rockson Ayine Bukari as the first substantive female regional minister of the Upper East.
The vision of Madam Abayage is to unite the party and make it strong in order to cement the seat in the constituency.
“My message is one of unity, we are uniting for a purpose, to love each other, to look out for each other, to build the party, build the constituency, we are strong already but we want a stronger party that would cement the party’s seat in the constituency,” she added.
In the Zebilla Constituency, Mr Frank Fuseini Adongo, the incumbent Member of Parliament, who doubles as the Upper East Deputy Regional Minister would be contested by Dr John Kingsley Krugu, former National Deputy Organizer of the NPP.
About 597 and 631 delegates are expected to vote in the Navrongo and Zebilla Constituencies respectively.
GNA