By-election: NPP's Annim wins Kumawu
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate in the Kumawu by-election, Ernest Yaw Annim, has won the contest with an overwhelming 15,264 votes representing 70.91 per cent of the total valid votes cast.
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Annim’s unsurprising victory was also emphatic as he won in all the 76 polling stations, thus leaving all three contestants scrambling for the over 20 per cent of the valid votes cast.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Kwasi Amankwaa, secured 3,723 votes, an improvement over his predecessor, representing 17.29 per cent of the total valid votes cast, ahead of the Independent candidate who defected from the NPP, Kwaku Duah, who garnered 2,478 or 11.51 per cent of the votes.
The confusion which was expected to cloud the votes of the two with the same name, Kwaku Duah, both of whom wore similar apparel on the ballot, did not pan out as the other Independent candidate, whose symbol was a bird, could only manage 62 votes or 0.29 per cent of the total valid votes cast.
Long before the declaration of the results, supporters of the party had started jubilating when reports of some polling stations started trickling in indicating that their candidate was in a comfortable lead.
It was not in doubt that the NPP was going to retain the seat which became vacant following the death of its sitting Member of Parliament, Philip Atta Basoah.
However, the threat posed by one of the Independent candidates, Kwaku Duah, made the party to work extra hard to neutralise that threat.
So serious was the threat that the party and the government had to marshall all their functionaries to the constituency to help in the campaign activities.
Even on the polling day, government appointees had to act as observers and polling station agents to play the watchdog roles.
Victory speech
Mr Annim, in an interview with the media after he was declared winner, said the people reposed their confidence in him because they knew he was the right person to ensure unity and bring development to the place.
He said he was hopeful that God would lift his finger and sure that he would be remarkably victorious as the NPP was the party to take the country to “the promised land”.
The NPP Member of Parliament-elect said he would lead the party to make it and its presidential candidates proud.
Mr Annim said his victory was an emphatic statement that the NPP was ready to break the eight in the 2024 general election.
Keen contest
There were no major incidents aside from earlier allegations mainly levelled by the NDC that the election supervisors, the Electoral Commission (EC), in connivance with the NPP agents, had caused some polling station agents to sign the pink sheets at the start of the contest, even before the close of polls.
The allegations were vehemently denied by officials of the EC and the NPP.
The NDC also accused the ruling NPP of massive vote buying, including the hurried development projects such as the construction of roads.
There was heavy security presence as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) himself led the high-powered Police Management Team to ensure flawless security operation on election day.
The quiet and peaceful Sekyere-Kumawu District was turned into a police town as the Ghana Police Service moved a large number of personnel to the constituency to ensure that the polls went on smoothly.
Aside from the number of police personnel deployed to the polling stations, there was a large number of them patrolling the town on foot and others in vehicles which were moving from one location to the other.
Guided by the recent events in Ayawaso West Wuogon, the police adequately prepared to prevent and stop anything that could mar the election.
Personnel in crowd control gear and crowd control vehicles placed at vantage points presented a very intimidating picture.
The large police presence made the Kumawu contest one of the most peaceful by-elections in the country in recent times.
Attestation
The Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Benjamin Banor-Bio, commended the police for ensuring an incident-free polls.
Skirmishes
There were, however, few reported cases of violence.
An NDC member was slapped and the windscreen of his vehicle vandalised for using a branded vehicle during the polls.
He had some NDC stickers on his vehicle and was attacked allegedly by members of the NPP.
One of the polling station coordinators of the NPP was also slapped allegedly by the older Kwaku Duah for supposedly inducing the electorate.
