Independent MP aspirant for Ho denies membership of NDC
An independent parliamentary candidate for the Ho Central Constituency, Mr Edwin Lotsu Tukpeyi, has debunked claims that he is a card-bearing member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the area.
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A recent statement issued by the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, dismissed the 58-year-old entrepreneur and 10 other NDC members in the region for violating the constitution of the party to contest as independent parliamentary candidates in the 2016 general election.
However, speaking to the Daily Graphic during his campaign tour of some communities in Ho Central, Mr Tukpeyi said the inclusion of his name on the list was a confusion on the part of the NDC as he had never been a card-bearing member of the umbrella party.
Strong admiration
He, however, said because of his strong admiration for the NDC Founder and former President J.J Rawlings, he had a good working relationship with the party in the Volta Region.
'In real sense, they might be thinking I'm a member of the NDC but I'm only a sympathiser of the party and at free will I do things for them for free. Because of that, they might be thinking I'm part of them,” he explained.
This, notwithstanding, Mr Tukpeyi said he was poised to unseat the incumbent NDC Member of Parliament for Ho Central, Mr Benjamin Kpodo, who is seeking a second term.
He stated, “I am not perturbed by this situation because my message of economic independence is going down well with the people who are just discontent with the status quo. So come December 7, it is going to be a done deal for me.”
Other candidates
In addition to the independent candidate and the incumbent MP, four other candidates from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Progressive People's Party (PPP), the People's National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People's Party (NPP) are contesting the Ho Central seat at the December 7 polls.
They include Ernest Yao Gaewu of the NPP, the PPP's Confidence Adediah, Franklin Kordzo Amudzi of the PNC and the CPP's Tay Perry.
Meanwhile, with three weeks to the election, all six candidates have intensified their campaigns to represent the second most populous constituency in the Volta Region after Ketu South in the next Parliament.