Filing of nominations closed on Thursday in the 137 constituencies across the country where the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has no sitting Members of Parliament, also known as orphan constituencies.
The party opened nominations for prospective parliamentary candidates in the orphan constituencies from Tuesday, July 11, 2023, to August 10, 2023.
Elections in the orphan constituencies will be held on a case-by-case basis to elect parliamentary candidates to contest on the party’s ticket in the 2024 general election in those constituencies from September 2023 to Saturday, December 2, 2023.
But before then, the parliamentary aspirants who had submitted their nomination forms had to go through vetting to establish their eligibility for the internal party contest to produce parliamentary candidates.
Asuogyaman
From Atimpoku in the Eastern Region, Ezekiel E. Sottie reports that a former Director-General of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), Paul Asare Ansah, who filed to contest the Asuogyaman primary, assured the delegates that he was going to win the seat from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2024 and make the constituency an NPP stronghold.
Paul Asare Ansah (right) presenting the nomination forms to Christian Addo Okomfo, the NPP Asuogyaman Constituency Secretary
Mr Ansah who is making a return after contesting the 2020 general election, said delegates voted for him overwhelmingly in 2019 which enabled him to contest the last general election, and the results of that polls had given him much experience and hope to make him win the election without any controversy, come December 2024.
Bolgatanga
An aspirant for the Bolgatanga Central Constituency in the Upper East Region, Elvis Atia Awonekai, who also filed to contest the primary said time was due for the NDC to surrender the parliamentary seat to the NPP.
He said, “Tell Isaac Adongo that his time is due to bow out and hand over the seat to the ruling NPP in the 2024 election, and that I am poised to snatch the seat to contribute my quota towards the progress of the constituency”.
Okaikwie North
From the Okaikwei North Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Diana Mensah reports that a former Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC), Maame Afia Akoto, said she would win the seat for the NPP if given the nod to represent the party in the upcoming 2024 general election.
She indicated that the NPP was the only political party that could ensure the development of the Okaikwei North Constituency, hence the need for the seat to be won by her.
Ms Akoto, popularly known as Landlady, said she would focus on championing development projects through her lobbying skills to improve the lives of the people if she won the bid to represent them on the ticket of the NPP in 2024.
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