A total of 1,126 grassroot members of the ruling New Patriotic Party across the 113 Polling stations in the Akwatia Constituency of the Eastern Region have filed to contest for the upcoming Polling stations election.
According to the party, the candidates’ nomination forms were received, out of which 258 are women.
The nominations were opened for prospective aspirants at the polling station level to pick forms as the first step to becoming an executive on 20th January 2023.
This follows a ruling by the Koforidua High court against the party and directed that there should be fresh elections in Akwatia from polling stations, and electoral areas to constituency executives after a suit filed by a party member.
Due to that the Regional leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) acting on the directives of the National Executive Committee published an electoral schedule for the elections of Polling Station Executives, Electoral Area Coordinators, and Constituency Executives in Akwatia.
The Regional Communications Officer of the party, Evans Osei- Yeboah who announced this in a statement said on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th January 2023, the regional executives embarked on an impactful sensitization exercise which was carried out across the constituency to educate stakeholders about the pros and cons of the electoral process and proactively handle any issue of concern.
According to him, “It’s exciting to report that the exercise was very successful and resultful, achieving massive participation and cooperation from the rank and file of the party in the Akwatia Constituency”.
He said the regional leadership ensured that nomination forms were available and accessible to every prospective aspirant, adding that the deadline was extended to allow persons who had genuine challenges in failing to do so.
He noted that during vetting, it became apparent that three people who had filed to contest as Youth Organizers at different polling stations were not qualified on the premise that they were over 40 years old.
He added that “It must be reiterated that the Regional Leadership is poised to ensure that fairness, transparency, and equity are seen to manifest in every step of the process”.
Meanwhile, the elections of Polling Station Executives are scheduled to take off today, Friday, 27th January 2023 in all 113 polling stations in the Akwatia Constituency.
-BY Daniel Bampoe