Officers of the Electoral Commission have already set up at Kumawu in the Ashanti Region, commencing today’s by-election.
The EC officers have positioned their voting materials and went through the electoral materials at each polling station to ensure everything was in place.
However, the voters now trickling in at the various polling stations to cast their ballots.
Men from the Ghana Police have also positioned themselves in various vantage points. Personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) are expected to reinforce the security on the ground to ensure an incident free election.
Four candidates are vying for the Kumawu parliamentary seat in the by-election following the passing of the incumbent Member of Parliament, Philip Basoah.
They are Ernest Yaw Anim of NPP, NDC’s Kwasi Amankwaa, and two independent candidates both known as Kwaku Duah.
The two major political parties, namely the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have pledged to play their respective roles in ensuring peace during and after the Kumawu by-election.
The assurance came after a meeting between the Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, and the leadership of the contesting political parties ahead of the polls.
Speaking at the sidelines of the meeting, the National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party, Mustapha Abdul Salam, emphasized that the party’s sole focus is on retaining the Kumawu Parliamentary seat and not engaging in violence.
“We don’t go into elections preparing for war, we go into it to win votes and that is the mindset to which we came here. We are coming for ballots and not bullets. Almost everyone is overwhelmed by our campaign and that is because we appreciate the electoral dynamics and appreciate the people of Kumawu. I can assure you that the NPP will not do anything untoward to break the peace in the community nor create violence or tension,” he said.
Speaking ahead of the election, the Director of Elections of the New Patriotic Party, Evans Nimako, has stated that the NPP is confident that the people of Kumawu will reward its parliamentary candidate with their votes in Tuesday’s by-election due to the level of development in the area.
Mr. Nimako stressed that the party has put in a lot of work and conducted extensive consultation in the constituency and is confident of a massive win in the May 23 by-election
“We have consulted all the opinion leaders in Kumawu. Our campaign team are at all the polling stations. We are talking to serious people who appreciate where we are as a country and where the constituency is. From what they have seen, they have confidence in the party that it is only the New Patriotic Party that will bring legislations that will transform Ghana’s development and that is what we are bound to do so the NDC can continue with their antics or propaganda, and it will serve them no good,” Mr. Nimako said.
He added that “What we are looking out for is that the Kumawu constituency will reward us with another win, and we will ensure that by the close of polls, the New Patriotic Party’s candidate will emerge victorious.”
For his part, the National Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), George Opare Addo has intimated that the NDC will likely pull a surprise and cause an upset by winning the by-election in Kumawu.
According to him, the hard work the NDC has put into the by-election will propel the party to victory.
Mr. Opare Addo said “There will be a surprise in Kumawu and there will be a new MP of the constituency belonging to the National Democratic Congress (NDC).”
The Youth Organiser said the election will be based on “how this government has treated people when it comes to development, and the people are going to treat them based on that and vote accordingly.
Yesterday, the young men of Kumawu were shouting that if not for the by-elections, the NPP would not have come to the constituency, and so they will vote against the NPP for treating them badly.”
By Vincent Kubi