THE NEW Patriotic Party (NPP) has successfully organised elections and elected its executives in 42 out of the 47 constituencies in its stronghold of the Ashanti Region.
The five remaining constituencies including Kumawu, Mampong, Manhyia North, Atwima Kwanwoma and Fomena couldn’t have their elections due to court injunctions.
In the 42 constituencies, the elections were conducted over the weekend, with Manhyia South Constituency and other few constituencies setting the ball rolling on Thursday.
The remaining constituencies in the region, especially constituencies with high Muslim population, such as the Asawase Constituency, also had their elections on Saturday.
Kwabena Nsenkyire, the Ashanti Regional NPP First Vice Chairman, who confirmed the above information to the DAILY GUIDE, said the Electoral Commission (EC) supervised the polls.
According to him, virtually all the elections that were held in the 42 constituencies were incident-free, indicating that the party members and sympathisers comported themselves properly.
Court Injunctions
Nsenkyire, however, said elections were not held in the five remaining constituencies in the party’s stronghold because of legal issues, as some aggrieved members went to the law court.
“Areas such as Kumawu, Mampong, Manhyia North, Fomena and Atwima Kwanwoma couldn’t organise their polls because court injunctions restrained them,” he bemoaned.
New Polls Date
Nsenkyire, sounding very confident, said the remaining five constituencies would definitely have their elections by the close of the week, noting that efforts were underway to ensure that.
He said Fomena had their vetting on Monday and so they could have the polls in a few days time, adding that Mampong have also scheduled their elections for the coming Sunday.
Nsenkyire also said barring any last minute hitch, Manhyia North would have their elections on Thursday, indicating that plans were underway for Kumawu to go to the polls on Wednesday.
He noted that the party would go to court on May 6, 2022 concerning the Atwima Kwanwoma elections, stressing “if we get a favourable results, the elections will take place the next day”.
Massive Shakeup
Meanwhile, checks by the paper have revealed that most of the old executives in the 42 constituencies, who were seeking re-election, were voted out and replaced with new people.
Despite the massive shakeups, some of the constituency chairmen managed to hang onto their positions as they recorded important victories to remain in office for the next four years.
George Kofi Adjei aka (Geokad), Nhyiaeso; Fosu Nkromah, Asokwa; and Fiifi Mensah, Bantama, just to mention a few, were some of the ‘lucky’ constituency chairmen that were retained.
In a related development, security was very tight in all the 42 constituencies that the elections were conducted, as armed policemen were seen standing at vantage points at the election venues.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi