Scrutinise candidates to make informed choices — Samia Nkrumah
An aspiring independent parliamentary candidate for Jomoro in the Western Region, Samia Yaba Nkrumah, has urged the electorate to scrutinise candidates contesting elections in order to make informed choices, rather than relying solely on loyalty to party members.
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She said politics must transcend political parties to the realm of individual candidates by looking at their qualities and capabilities.
Ms Nkrumah, a former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Jomoro Constituency on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), said this in an interview on "Your Ghana, My Ghana" on a Graphic TV show on YouTube which was co-hosted by Dede Amanor-Wilks and Ruby Ofori.
It was on the topic: “Women and politics” as part of activities to commemorate Ghana’s 67th Independence Day and the International Women's Day.
Independent candidate
Ms Nkrumah, who is also a former Chairperson of the CPP, said contesting an election as independent candidate did not mean one was against everyone.
She said it was an opportunity to be different, open minded and serve your constituency better.
She, therefore, urged the electorate to look at the individual qualities, competence and vision of candidates and vote for them.
Ms Nkrumah, said she would like to do things differently hence her decision to stand as an independent candidate.
When asked what she would do differently when elected as an independent MP, she said she would engage her constituents in a constructive manner to help take away the excessive partisanship that had characterised the country’s body politics.
Ms Nkrumah pledged to use her influence and whatever power she had to bring about greater economic activities in her constituency when given the nod by her constituents to represent them in Parliament, stressing that she would do a good job when given the opportunity to serve.
She said her constituency, being a rural one but rich in everything from vegetation to mineral wealth, she would work with her constituents to create a lot of economic opportunities in the area for them to help stem the rural-urban drift, adding that she would use her networks both international and local to create more economic activities.
She said the country needed many more independent parliamentarians to change the face of the country’s legislature and the way politics was done in the nation.
Ms Nkrumah entered Parliament in 2009 on the ticket of the CPP when she defeated the then incumbent MP for Jomoro, Lee Ocran of the National Democratic Congress with 19,916 votes representing 50.01 per cent against 13, 345 votes representing 33.51 per cent obtained by Mr Ocran.
Other candidates in that contest were Martin Nyamekye Ackah of the New Patriotic Party who secured 6,345 votes representing 15.93 per cent and Jemiama Soboe of the People’s National Convention, 220 votes, representing 0.55 per cent.
Ms Nkrumah, when successful with her filing of nominations as an independent candidate for the 2024 parliamentary elections, would be in the race with the incumbent NDC MP, Dorcas Affo-Toffey.
