Who wins Akyem Oda primary? Akwasi Acquah, two others threaten incumbent Quaitoo
The Akyem Oda Constituency of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will be one of the keenly contested seats when the party goes to the primaries on April 25, 2020.
Three contestants, Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah, a journalist and the Chief Executive Officer of Community Hospitals Group, Mr Richard Asante Bediako, an Accra-based businessman and Mr Edward Kwaku Aboagye, Financial Accountant, will be challenging the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Mr William Agyapong Quaitoo.
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Political watchers in the constituency believe Mr Quaitoo’s stiffest opposition would come from Mr Acquah.
Safe haven for NPP
The Oda Constituency parliamentary seat has been a safe haven for the NPP since 1996. Whoever emerges victorious in the NPP constituency primary automatically becomes the MP.
The only time the NPP was denied of the position in the constituency was in 1992 when the party boycotted the parliamentary elections thereby giving the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC’s) parliamentary candidate, Nana Boaten Abora, a field day to become the first MP in the Fourth Republic.
Mr Quaitoo, a former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, is currently the Chairman of the Education Committee of Parliament, and a member of the Emoluments Committee of Parliament, as well as the Chairman of the National Food Buffer Stock Company.
He was also a former Deputy Ranking Member of Agriculture and former Chairman of the Local Government Committee in Parliament.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, Mr Quaitoo said he was not perturbed by the threat of his competitors as he would win the April 25, 2020 NPP constituency primary and go ahead to retain the parliamentary seat on December 7, 2020.
He stressed that his cordial relationship with the delegates and the constituents in general, coupled with the numerous development projects he had provided for the entire constituency, gave him the upper hand over his challengers to sail through the two elections smoothly.
Mr Quaitoo mentioned some of the projects as school blocks, water and toilet facilities and mentioned some of the beneficiaries Attafuah and St Francis SHS, Oda SHS, Oda and Aboabo Salvation Kindergarten Primary and Junior High School.
Akwasi Acquah
Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah, 45, who is contesting the constituency NPP primary for the first time, also expressed optimism that come April 25, 2020, he would give Mr Quaitoo the shock of his life by defeating him by a wide margin.
Mr Acquah, a former Peace FM reporter and former spokesperson for the National Health Insurance Authority who hails from Akyem Oda, told the Daily Graphic that education development was one of his priorities.
He explained that it was for that reason that he had set up the Kotokuman Education Trust Fund, which sponsored 10 needy, brilliant students from the area in tertiary educational institutions last academic year as a measure of producing more intellectuals to help bridge the education gap.
“As a business executive and entrepreneur, I have planned to initiate some business ideas to create employment for the people, especially the youth,” he stressed.
Mr Acquah said even though he was not an MP, he had employed 800 workers in his six hospitals and mortuaries in the Greater Accra and Eastern regions.
He promised to partner the government to establish a One-district, One-factory in the Oda Constituency to absorb a number of unemployed youth in the area.
Mr Edward Kwaku Aboagye(left), Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah(right)
Supporters’ prediction
While Mr Nelson Ntiamoah aka Sasakorata, NPP Communication Officer for the Oda Constituency, and Mr Owusu Afriyie, the Oda Constituency NPP Assistant Secretary expressed the hope that the incumbent MP would sail through both the NPP primary and parliamentary elections smoothly, Mr David Okyere aka Okyeman, the Oda Constituency NPP Organiser and
Madam Akua Biamah, a diehard supporter of Mr Acquah, predicted a landslide victory for Mr Acquah.
Kwaku Aboagye
Mr Edward Kwaku Aboagye, an employee of Tema-based Atlas Manufacturing and Engineering Company, who is a new entrant to the competition, has promised to cause the biggest sensation by winning the constituency primary and the parliamentary seat in his first attempt no matter the odds.
Mr Aboagye, who was born into the Danquah/Busia/NPP family, said the good works of his father, Mr Seth Kofi Aboagye aka Mr Fiifi Aboagye, a former Eastern Regional Vice Chairman of the NPP, and his own contribution to the party at both the national and constituency levels, would help him to win the primary and the parliamentary seat.
Touching on his contribution to the Oda Constituency, Mr Aboagye said he had carried out some renovation at the party office, adding that plans were far advanced to replace two new laptop computers to replace the old ones.
Asante Bediako
For his part, 55-year-old Mr Richard Asante Bediako, who participated in the constituency NPP primary in 2016 and lost to Mr Quaittoo, gave an assurance that he would defeat the other three contestants hands down and eventually become the MP.
Who then wins the Oda Constituency NPP primary on April 25, 2020? The chances are 50-50 for Mr William Agyapong Quaittoo and Mr Alexander Akwasi Acquah.