NPP to pull off surprise in Ho Central? Marginal drops, gains expected at polls
There is a possibility of marginal drops and gains in the votes of the up-coming parliamentary and presidential elections in the Ho Central Constituency for the two major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Advertisement
Ho Central is one of the highly populated constituencies in the region and no doubt a stronghold of the NDC like the other constituencies in the Volta Region.
But for a few posters of the parliamentary candidates for the two major political parties and party flags seen at vantage points, not much noise has been made yet concerning the election even though it is clear the battle line has been drawn for the two parties.
The NDC, as it has been in the past, is expected to win the election in the constituency but this time round, the NPP is likely to pull off a surprise of garnering marginal vote increases for its presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Other parties
For the other parties in the constituency such as the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) and the National Democratic Party (NDP), not much is being heard about them in the constituency.
The two major parties, the NDC and the NPP, have remained the only parties contesting the election until recently when one Mr Edwin Tukpeyi, a businessman, joined the race hoping to win the parliamentary seat as an independent candidate.
Views from Ho township
Views sampled by the Daily Graphic in Ho showed that people were not satisfied with the level of development in the regional capital and therefore were sure the votes of the NDC were likely to dwindle.
The possibility of the NPP gaining some slight votes as compared to previous years is likely because the constituency is now becoming more cosmopolitan than before, with the people not satisfied with the level of development and also just for an appetite for a change.
The call for change is being spearheaded by a youth group called ‘Volta For Change’ which is a well-organised group in Ho.
“Nana Addo will perform better in this election than previous ones in Ho. The appeal is targetting new voters, the youth and the working class,” Sepenyo, an interviewee, said.
With a sentimental voting pattern which has characterised elections in the Volta Region, the NPP parliamentary candidate, Lawyer Ernest Gaewu, who is a native of Abutia (Ho West) but has been a resident of Ho for years, would have a tough task even though he is not a novice in politics as he contested the Ho West parliamentary seat and lost in the 2012 election.
Lawyer Gaewu, whose visibility in the constituency is considered to be low, would probably make a mark riding on the clouts of Nana Akufo-Addo and not on his own popularity.
Number of voters
For the NDC, it is a cool chop of bagging 80,000 votes for President John Dramani Mahama and at least 70,000 votes for the incumbent Member of Parliament, Mr Benjamin Kpodo, who also went unopposed for the coming election.
Out of the of 87,000 voter population in the last election, the NDC had 62,363 and 60,129 for presidential and parliamentary respectively while the NPP had 5,148 and 6,758 respectively.
The constituency electoral roll has appreciated upwards from 87,000 votes in 2012 to 96,000 after the last limited voter registration exercise.
With the trumpeting of development projects such as the Ho aerodrome under construction, the Ho Market Project, the University of Health and Allied Sciences, schools, health facilities and the latest asphalt road overlay in Ho, the party is optimistic that it would do very little work to achieve its 80,000 votes with the MP’s slogan ‘All the votes’.
Dissatisfaction
Though the NPP candidate may not be that popular, it will also not be that rosy for the NDC candidate, a native of Tanyigbe (Ho Central), either.
This is because the dissatisfaction of a section of the populace in terms of development is a bit high.
The few who spoke to this paper were not really enthused about the achievements of the NDC in the constituency complaining that the regional capital was under-developed.
The dissatisfied group also expected that at least one or two factories could have been put up to reduce the unemployment situation in the regional capital as a benefit of being the “World Bank’’ of the NDC.
Though the NDC might win, these factors, coupled with pockets of apathy due to a perceived ‘colourless style’ of the parliamentary candidate, could affect their 80,000 vote target.
Furthermore, the Daily Graphic gathered that one or two party members might contest as independent candidates and if that should happen, it might affect the votes of the NDC candidate.
