Weija /Gbawe for NDC/NPP women duel in 2016
Like the 2012 general election which saw a woman elected as a Member of Parliament for Weija Gbawe constituency, the 2016 parliamentary election in the constituency is also expected to be an all-women affair.
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This is because the the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2012 parliamentary candidate for Weija/Gbawe, Ms Obuobia Darko-Opoku, is poised to be elected once more to contest the parliamentary seat on the ticket of the party
Already the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has elected a woman to contest the parliamentary seat.
Launching her campaign for re-election, Ms Darko-Opoku asked supporters of the party to stand in unity and refrain from attacks that could dent the image of the party.
She said NDC had come very far to allow any internal issues to harm the party’s fortunes in the 2016 general election.
“We are a united party and we understand what politics is all about. We should not permit any campaign of insults and backbiting that would only divide us,” she said.
The launch of Ms Darko-Opoku’s campaign attracted hundreds of party supporters, majority being the youth.
Voting patterns in Weija-Gbawe constituency
The constituency is one of the strongholds of the NPP as the party won the seat in both 2008 and 2012.
In 2008, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchway won the seat for NPP by securing 63,371 votes, representing 53.7 per cent of the total votes of 117,908. Her closest counterpart, Sheriff Nii Otto Dodoo of the NDC, obtained 51,961 votes, representing 44.1 per cent.
It was an all-women affair in the 2012 elections in the constituency. After the elections, Mrs Rosemund Comfort Abrah won the seat for NPP with 32,862 out of total votes of 61,322 with her NDC contender, Ms Darko-Opoku, obtaining 26,899.
Ahead of the 2016 elections, Ms Darko-Opoku, if she wins the parliamentary primary over her contender, Mr Ayiku Ocansey, would be contesting Ms Tina Mensah, a former Deputy women’s organiser of NPP.
NDC fully prepared
Ms Darko-Opoku said she was prepared and ready to embark on a clean campaign devoid of personal attacks, and added that “the goal is not to win it by all means but to win it in a way that would promote development and unity in the party and for the constituency”.
