Paul Essien
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is likely to lose the Jomoro parliamentary seat to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December 7 parliamentary election.
This follows the decision by one of the contenders in the NDC’s parliamentary primary in the constituency, who lost in November last year, to contest for the seat as an independent candidate.
The aggrieved NDC member lost in a controversial parliamentary primary which saw one Thomas Yankey emerge victorious.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that the decision by Leo Kofi Armah Amenlemah to contest for the seat as an independent candidate has the backing of the majority of the NDC youth in the Jomoro area.
Currently, some NDC members are unhappy with the decision by the former aspirant and believe the NPP candidate, Paul Essien could win the seat if the NDC kingpins in the area fail to persuade him to rescind his decision.
The intention of daughter of the first President of Ghana Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Samia Yaaba Nkrumah to contest the Jomoro seat again on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party (CPP) has also heightened the fear of the NDC.
Samia Nkrumah captured the seat from the NDC in the 2008 general elections when she first appeared on political scene in Ghana.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that the decision by the aggrieved NDC member to contest the Jomoro seat as an independent candidate was borne out of alleged irregularities that occurred during the primary in Jomoro constituency.
According to sources, Mr. Amenlemah, before the Jomoro NDC primary last year, drew the attention of the regional executives of the NDC to the biased manner in which the biometric registration of NDC members in the constituency was carried out in the constituency.
He alleged that the names of his supporters, numbering about 1,000, were deliberately deleted from polling stations at Half-Assini, Elubo, Jaywaf and Twenene, among others.
However, the regional executives purportedly ignored the aspirant’s grievances and went ahead with the primary.
Mr Amenlemah’s supporters, who became very angry at his defeat, mounted intense pressure on him to contest the seat as an independent candidate, which he later agreed.
According to political pundits, the current conditions in the Jomoro constituency, coupled with the current economic hardships, rather give the opposition NPP the upper hand in the area in this year’s general elections.
To this end, some NDC supporters in the Western Region have called on the regional executives of the party to move swiftly to stop the aggrieved member of the party from carrying out his threat to contest the seat as an independent candidate.
Meanwhile, the Regional Branch of the NPP have indicated that they are leaving no stone unturned in recapturing some of the seats the party lost to the NDC, including Evalue-Gwira, Ahanta West, Shama and Amenfi West, in this year’s general elections.
They have also resolved to increase the party’s votes in area to ensure a resounding victory for the party and its flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi