Countdown to 2016 election in Upper East
With barely two weeks to the December polls, the various opposition political parties in the Upper East Region are using this year's election as the litmus test or measuring rod to gauge their popularity and make inroads into the region.
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This is a region that has over the years remained the stronghold of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in both the presidential and parliamentary elections. But this time around all the political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the People's National Convention (PNC),the Progressive People's Party (PPP),the Convention People's Party (CPP) and the All People's Congress (APC), are determined to erode the electoral fortunes of the ruling NDC in the region.
This the parties hope they could achieve by gradually snatching some of the key seats in the region from the NDC and finally breakdown its firm grip on the region.
Targets
Whether their targets would be achieved or not in this year's election would be determined after the outcome of the December 7, 2016 election.
It is also worthy to note that the ruling party is also formulating strategies to prevent that from happening.
For one thing, some of the parties in opposition are equally aware that it is impossible to capture all the 15 seats in this year's election, as well as win significantly the presidential votes in their favour.
Presidential votes
The presidential votes in all the 15 constituencies have always been in favour of the NDC except on a few occasions. In the 2012 presidential election, all the 15 constituencies in the region voted for President John Dramani Mahama. However, in the 2008 presidential elections for instance, the Bawku Central Constituency was the only constituency that voted for the NPP's flag bearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who had 19,933 votes, representing 50.5 per cent, while his closest contender, John Evans Atta Mills, got 18,943 votes, representing 48 per cent of the votes.
In 2004, the Navrongo Central Constituency was the only constituency that voted for the NPP's John Agyekum Kufuor who had 42.6 per cent as against John Evans Atta Mills’ 37.7 per cent.
Issues
Indeed, some of the opposition political parties have argued on various political platforms that the Upper East Region deserves better in terms of road infrastructure and other facilities since the region has been voting massively for the NDC over the years.
However, the NDC has also maintained that it is on course regarding the provision of roads and other infrastructure in the region.
The NDC has also argued that it has started asphalting some of the roads in the Bolgatanga town while others are also being rehabilitated.
Other issues being raised by the opposition parties include the inability of the government to revamp factories such as the Zuarungu Meat Factory and the Pwalugu Tomato Factory to give the youth more employment opportunities.
Again, the NDC contends that in its manifesto it has outlined measures to revive defunct factories in the region and that it has started conducting feasibility studies on all the factories including the ones in the Upper East Region that were established by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's Founder and first president in order to revamp the viable ones.
As to whether these arguments being raised by the opposition parties would be the deciding factors for the electorate to vote in a particular way in the December polls could only be determined after the results are declared by the Electoral Commission (EC).
Constituencies to watch
Some of the constituencies to watch in the December polls, are Chiana-Paga, Garu, Navrongo Central, Bolgatanga Central and Talensi.
Currently, the NPP has only one seat, the Nabdam Constituency, in the region, while the PNC also has one seat in the Builsa South Constituency. The remaining 13 seats are occupied by the NDC.
While the NPP wants to capture at least six seats in the region, the PNC wants to get at least four seats in the region. The other political parties also have their respective targeted seats to capture from the NDC. The Upper East Region executive members of the All People's Congress (APC) for instance have given an indication that although the party is new on the political scene, they are determined to capture four seats from the NDC in the region.
The targeted seats for the APC are Bolgatanga Central, Navrongo Central, Bawku Central and Talensi.
The regional executive members of the PNC have also targeted to win three seats and still retain the Builsa South Constituency. The three seats are Chiana-Paga, Talensi and Bolgatanga Central seats.
What political pundits believe is that the NDC might lose some seats if the right strategies are not put in place owing to the determination of the opposition parties to make inroads.
Bolgatanga Central
Recently,the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia (General Mosquito), during a campaign launch of the parliamentary candidate for the Bolgatanga Central Constituency, Mr Isaac Adongo, sounded a note of caution to the rank and file of the party in the Upper East Region.
He further stressed that the NDC was jealously guarding against any defeat in both the presidential and parliamentary election. He had observed that anytime there was division among its rank and file, it lost the Bolgatanga Central seat to its opponents although it was a safe seat for the NDC.
Chiana-Paga
Events that unfolded before and after the delayed NDC primary that saw the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mr Abuga Pele, losing the primary to Lawyer Rudolf Amenga-Etego in the Chiana-Paga Constituency make it a seat to watch.
The question key watchers of the constituency are asking is will Mr Pele's peeved followers bury their differences and vote for Lawyer Amenga-Etego?
Mr Pele has been in Parliament for 16 years, having won the general elections in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2012. He lost in 2008 to Leo Alowe Kabah of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) after Lawyer Amenga-Etego, who contested Mr Pele at the primary in 2007 was dissatisfied with the results, and subsequently stood as an independent candidate.
Lawyer Amenga-Etego will now face his main contender from the NPP, Mr Clement Dandori, in the 2016 general polls.
Navrongo Central
For the Navrongo Central Constituency, it is a straight race between the NDC and the NPP. In the 2012 election, the current MP, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo of the NDC, got 17,907 votes, representing 53.16 per cent, while his closest contender, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda of the NPP, had 15,443 votes, representing 45.84 per cent.
In 2008, 2004 and in the 2003 by-election, Mr Adda won the parliamentary election for the NPP. Then in the year 2000, Mr John Setuni Achuliwor of the NPP won but in 1996, Mr Clement Tumfugah Bugase of the NDC won the seat. In 1995, Mr Achuliwor stood as an independent candidate and won a by-election.
Talensi
If what happened during the Talensi by-election in July 2015 was anything to go by then the NDC, the NPP and the PNC would still battle for that seat. That would also depend on how best the current MP, Mr Benson Tongo Baba, plays his political cards to his own advantage and that of the NDC.
For now all the political parties have laced their boots for a showdown come December 7, 2016.
NDC
However, the Upper East Regional Secretary of the NDC, Mr Donatus Akamugre, has given the indication that there is no way any political party, including the main opposition NPP, could erode the electoral fortunes of the party in the region.
Mr Akamugre explained that the NDC in the region had adopted various strategies to improve on the party’s previous results.
According to him, the party in the region had already set in motion a campaign strategy dubbed the "Agenda 80-20" which sought to give President Mahama 80 per cent of the presidential votes in this year's election as compared to the 66.4 per cent he garnered in the 2012 presidential election in the region.
For the parliamentary election, he said, the party had started what it termed the "Agenda 15-15" which also targeted the capturing of all the 15 seats in the region.
He maintained that all the problems being encountered by the party in some of the constituencies were being resolved and come the 2016 general election the opposition parties, particularly the NPP, would be shocked by the outcome of the election which would go in favour of the NDC.
Mr Akamugre further noted that the NPP, which practised capitalism and a property-owning democracy, would not win any seat in the region in this year's election because the electorate was more comfortable with the NDC, which is a socially democratic party than the NPP. Furthermore, he observed, the NDC had over the years ensured balance in the distribution of development projects as well as in the appointment of ministers of state and other personalities from the region to hold some key positions in the NDC administration which had endeared the party to the people in the region.
He pointed out that the arguments being raised about poor road network, unemployment and lack of industries or factories in the region were baseless because currently almost all the sectors that affected the lives of residents in the region were being improved upon.
"Ask the NPP what they achieved in this region when they were in power, especially in the area of provision of school infrastructure and roads," he said.
NPP
The Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP, Mr Mohammed Murtala Ibrahim, for his part, stated that "we will not disclose our strategies to our political opponents because they can quickly mobilise and erode our gains".
He further explained that the NPP was targeting eight seats in the region and in the "worst scenario six seats". He, however, declined to mention them as a strategy to outwit the NPP's political opponents.
Mr Ibrahim stressed that the party was on course in its political agenda in the region, saying: "We are treading cautiously in order not to give undue advantage to our opponents."
According to him, the party in the region would also make sure they did not post their strategies on social media for their opponents to take advantage of.
The Deputy Regional Coordinator of a group known as Friends of Chairman Adams Mahama (FOCAM) within the NPP in the Upper East Region, Mr Martin Amogre, has also stated that the group was supporting the regional and constituency executives of the party in the pursuance of the late Adams Mahama's vision of capturing at least six seats in the region for the party in the December polls.
The late Adams Mahama, who was the Upper East Regional Chairman of the NPP, died through an acid attack by his assailants leading to his death on Thursday, May 21, 2015.
According to Mr Amogre, the FOCAM and the party's executives were on the ground and that those targets were achievable.
"We have also embarked on a series of research in the various constituencies aimed at getting to know both our strengths and weaknesses so that when we capture power we know what exactly to do; the research has also enabled us to know the various challenges facing the districts in the region," he noted.
He further explained that the party had embarked on door-to-door campaigns across the region and in the targeted constituencies and "hopefully things would work out for us in this election".
