Paul AnsahÂ
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for the Asuogyaman Constituency in the Eastern Region, Paul Ansah Asare, has lost his bid to become the next Member of Parliament (MP) for the area.
The former Chief Executive of the Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) was defeated by the incumbent NDC MP for the area, Thomas Ampem Nyarko.
The incumbent MP who was the former District Chief Executive for the Asuogyaman District gathered 24,470 votes to beat Mr. Ansah who had 23,232 votes from the 145 polling stations in the constituency.
The NDC MP managed to break the one-term parliamentary norm in the Asuogyaman Constituency with over 1,000 votes.
Records
Thomas Ampem Nyarko first won the seat in 2016 after beating then parliamentary candidate of the NPP, Kwame Adu Darkwa, with 51.87 per cent of the votes.
While the NDC keeps winning the presidential slot over the years, the parliamentary seat has been won by both the NDC and NPP since the 2000 polls.
The NDCâs Emmanuel Dwamena Bekoe in 2000 became the MP for the constituency after pulling 14, 905 votes to beat his opponent, Dr. Godfred Kofi Siaw of the NPP.
In 2004 however, Mr. Bekoe of the NDC polled 15,873 votes and was beaten by Kofi Osei-Ameyaw of the NPP, who at the time gathered 17,806 votes, representing 51.60 per cent.
Again in 2008, the candidate of the NDC, Asare Akoto, secured 16,608 votes representing 51.30 per cent to unseat Kofi Osei-Ameyaw of the NPP.
During the 2012 elections, Kofi Osei-Ameyaw managed to gather 20,750 votes representing 51.79 per cent to unseat Asare Akoto of the NDC who pulled 18,650 votes representing 46.55 per cent.
In 2016, the candidate of the NDC, Thomas Ampem Nyarko, secured 20,493 votes representing 51.87 per cent to beat his opponent, Kwame Adu Darkwa of the NPP, who pulled 18,668 votes representing 47.25 per cent.
The news of Paul Ansahâs defeat came as a big shock to his constituents as the NPP was hoping the seat would again swing in their favour, but the NDC managed to retain it.
BY Daniel Bampoe