Bice Osei-Kuffour aka Obour
Scores of Delegates and Coordinators of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the Asante Akyem South Constituency in the Ashanti Region have rejected the claims that they have assured not to move to any other camp but would remain with the incumbent MP, Kwaku Asante Boateng who is the Deputy Railway Minister.
This follows a press conference organized by the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Kwaku Asante-Boateng, who is seeking a re-election on the claims that the Coordinators of his closest contender, the Managing Director of the Ghana Post and a former President of the Musicians Union of Ghana, Bice Osei-Kuffour aka Obour have defected to his camp.
The race for the parliamentary ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is heating up as the incumbent MP
Mr Asante-Boateng, is feared of losing the NPP parliamentary bid for the 2024 general election by the delegates of the party to Bice Osei-Kuffour aka Obour.
However, the Coordinators, in reaction, have refuted the MP’s claims and empathically stated that no current campaign coordinators of the Obour camp have defected to the MP’s camp.
According to the Convenor of the AAS Delegates for Obour, Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong, the report that some zonal campaign coordinators who were in the camp of Obour have defected to join the campaign team of the incumbent MP is false, and an attempt by the MP to deceive delegates.
Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong noted that the MP usually invited all the delegates for a meeting and intentionally used that means to hype himself in the media that they had declared their 100 per cent support to him against his contender.
He said Obour, who lost the NPP primary in 2020 by 58 votes to the incumbent MP, is the new face for the constituency and has been fully endorsed by the Chiefs, Clergy, and constituents to dethrone the Incumbent MP.
In a statement, Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong, the convenor for AAS Delegates For Obour noted that Obour is committed to the NPP’s agenda of ‘breaking the 8’, which means winning a third consecutive term in power in 2024.
He explained that Mr Bice Osei-Kuffour aka Obour has for the past years undertaken massive developmental projects such as facilitating 300 Youths to get enrolled in the Youth for Afforestation program, and facilitating Telephone Network Mast for Muronaim and Amantia community.
Others include the recruitment of about 30 Young persons in Immigration, Military, Prisons and Police Service, Ghana Post, Provision of Tertiary Scholarships for 20 Students, Foreign scholarships for 3 students from Asante Akyem South, Provision of Sanitation materials and Boreholes/Poly Tanks for several communities in Asante Akyem South and Provision of Skills Development and Training for over 50 young persons in the Constituency.
He further explained that the mantle as the parliamentary candidate could potentially increase the party’s vote by an additional 10,000, benefitting both the presidential and parliamentary candidates, adding that the decline in NPP votes since 2012, pointing out that while the NPP added a mere 690 votes over 4 years, the NDC significantly increased its votes by about 6,000 in the same timeframe.
“In 2020, NPP’s parliamentary vote increased from 32,526 to 33,200, adding only 690 votes over four years. Meanwhile, the NDC went from 15,000 to 21,639 votes for the parliamentary candidate during the same period,” Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong explained.
Expressing concern about the NPP losing ground in what has traditionally been an NPP stronghold with the current MP, he urged party leaders to take note of the declining numbers in Asante Akyem South and further called upon delegates to carefully consider their decision in voting.
He further emphasized the importance of electing a candidate capable of increasing the party’s votes and fostering development in the constituency by electing Obour who is a unifier as a new face to increase the votes for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
–BY Daniel Bampoe