Andrews Amoako Asiamah
THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary seats in the Ashanti Region have been reduced from 44 out of a total of 47 in 2016 to 42 after the 2020 national elections.
The ruling political party contested for all the 47 seats in the region with the hope of adding to its 44 seats but unfortunately they lost two seats to the chagrin of party members.
The NPP Parliamentary Candidate for New Edubiase, George Boahen Oduro, who is also the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, strangely lost his seat to Abdul Salam Adams of the NDC.
The NPP also lost the Fomena Constituency seat to an independent candidate, Andrews Amoako Asiamah, the sitting NPP MP, who was removed from Parliament by the Speaker at the behest of the NPP at the last minute after he filed to contest as independent candidate, which was in contravention of the party’s rules and regulations.
NDC 3 Seats
Meanwhile, the largest opposition party, the NDC, also managed to retain its three existing seats in the region, made up of the Asawase, Ejure Sekyeredumase and Sekyere Afram Plains.
The NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Asawase, Alhaji Alidu Seidu, who was very confident of snatching the seat from Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the NDC MP, failed miserably.
According to reports, the NDC MP for Asawase, who has virtually made the Asawase seat his bona fide property, easily won the cagey elections with a far wider margin of votes.
At Sekyere Afram Plains, the NPP did a lot of work, in the form of political campaign for votes, but their efforts were not enough as Joseph Owusu Boakye, aka ‘Odenkyem’, lost the polls.
New NPP MPs
Significantly, the NPP presented some new faces, whom managed to win their election in the various consultations and so they would be making their maiden appearance in Parliament.
The newly elected MPs included Francis Asenso-Boakye, a Deputy Chief of Staff, who won the Bantama seat, and Stephen Amoah, aka Sticker, the MASLOC Boss, who won the Nhyiaeso seat.
The rest were Vincent Ekow Asafuah, who for the first time won the Tafo-Pankrono seat after Dr. Anthony Osei Akoto stepped down, John Kumah, CEO of NEIP, also won the Ejisu seat and many others, who would be entering Parliament.
Old MPs
Some old NPP MPs in the Ashanti Region that would be returning to Parliament after safely retaining their seats are Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, the Suame MP and Majority Leader in Parliament.
Others that also retained their seats included Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, aka ‘Napo’, Manhyia South; Kobina Tahir Hammond of Adanse Asokwa; Eugene Antwi, Subin; Patricia Appiagyei, Asokwa; Isaac Asiamah, Atwima Mponua and others.
Positive Show
Significantly, President Akufo-Addo performed excellently in the form of votes accumulated, in almost all the 47 constituencies in the Ashanti Region which is NPP’s stronghold.
Reports have it that President Akufo-Addo even recorded more votes than all the NPP parliamentary candidates combined. Political pundits said the trend showed the people were satisfied with his performance.
Some other political connoisseurs explained that the President’s famous policies, especially, the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme, which had benefited 1.2 million students, did the trick for the President.
Spoilt Ballots
Surprisingly, the Ashanti Region recorded massive spoilt ballots during Monday’s elections. Reports making rounds indicated that spoilt ballots were rampant all over the region.
The paper learnt that the spoilt ballots menace was mostly recorded in the strongholds of the NPP, thereby given an inclination that perhaps something fishy was done to ensure that.
For instance, unconfirmed reports have it that about 2000 spoilt ballots were recorded in the Atwima Mponua Constituency alone, which is traditionally a known NPP fortress.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi