Ameyaw-Cheremeh retained as Sunyani East NPP parliamentary candidate
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Sunyani East, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, has been retained as the party’s parliamentary candidate in the upcoming December election.
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He polled 460 to beat his only contender, George Kumi, Ghana's former Ambassador to Libya and High Commissioner to Nigeria, who polled 339 votes.
Although 887 delegates were expected to cast their votes, 800 delegates turned out to vote.
The total valid votes cast was 799 and one was rejected.
Voting, which was supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC), started exactly 8:00 a.m and the process was smooth and peaceful.
Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh will be seeking to represent his constituents in Parliament for the fifth time if he secures a victory in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Arrest
One of the delegates believed to be in his 30s was arrested for allegedly taking pictures of his thumb printed ballot paper.
As a result, the EC rejected his ballot paper, which was considered as the only rejected vote.
Contest
Last Saturday’s election was not the first time Mr Kumi was contesting the incumbent MP, Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh.
In the 2016 general election, he contested the incumbent MP and lost by a single vote.
Mr Kumi polled 387 votes as against the 388 votes by Ameyaw-Cheremeh.
However, the exercise was marred with accusations and counter-accusations which culminated in the Sunyani High Court ordering a recount.
After the recount, Mr Kumi's 387 votes were reduced by one while Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh's 388 votes were increased by one.
After that defeat, Mr Kumi decided to contest as an independent parliamentary candidate in the area.
During the 2016 general election, Mr Ameyaw-Cheremeh garnered 38,009 representing 54.45 per cent of the total votes, while Mr Kumi got 15, 911 representing 22.79 per cent as an independent parliamentary candidate.
In the 2020 election, Mr Kumi attempted to join the NPP parliamentary race but was unsuccessful.
