9 Pick forms to contest Ejisu NPP primary
Following the demise of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ejisu, Dr John Ampontuah Kumah, on March 7 this year, and the subsequent opening of nomination for a by-election by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), there has been a scramble for the vacant seat.
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So far, nine people have picked up forms to file their nominations to contest for the seat that the deceased won unopposed in the party’s parliamentary primaries held on January 27, this year.
Even before the party opened nominations for interested party members to file their nominations, as many as 10 names were bandied about as those who intended to contest the seat.
A statement issued and signed by the General Secretary of the party, Justin Kodua Frimpong, on March 29, 2024, said nominations would close today, Thursday, April 4, 2024, with the election coming off on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
Aspirants
Those who have picked up nomination forms so far include former Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Kwesi Nyantakyi; Abena Pokuaa Boaitey, popularly known as ‘Ejisu Broni’, and Portia Acheampong Abronye.
The rest are the Presiding Member (PM) of the Ejisu Municipal Assembly, Helena Mensah; the Constituency Second Vice-Chairman, Kingsley Karikari Mensah; Kwabena Boateng and a lecturer at the Akenten Appiah Menkah University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED), Dr Evans Duah, who is said to be a close friend of the late MP and highly tipped to win the seat to continue his work.
The others are Aaron Prince Duah and Maame Yaa Aboagye and there are also posters of the former MP for the area and Deputy Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, a known supporter of Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen’s Movement for Change, to contest as an independent candidate.
These nine parliamentary hopefuls have to go through the party’s vetting process before they can contest in the primary slated for Saturday, April 13, 2024.
High interest
Ejisu is one of the safest seats of the NPP in the region and the constituents have always voted for the party. It, therefore, goes without saying that anyone who emerges as the winner of the primary is an automatic MP. This fact might have accounted for the high interest in the seat by the party members.
In the last parliamentary elections, the NPP candidate secured a whopping 68,326 votes representing 82.8 per cent of the total votes as against 14,164 by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, representing 17.2 per cent of the votes cast.
EC
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission (EC) has expressed its readiness to hold a by-election in Ejisu and the commission is waiting for a notification from the Clerk to Parliament to fix a date for the by-election.
Article 112(6) of the 1992 Constitution states that a by-election should not be held three months before a general election.
