Alban Bagbin
Alban Bagbin

Former National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislator and now Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has stressed that the spirit of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is in the Volta Region.

He opined that, if the NDC is well-groomed in the region, no other political party would challenge the opposition party.

“For my party, I don’t need to say anything, the only thing I will say is that the spirit of the NDC is in the Volta Region. If it is well nurtured, we fear no form”, he posited to the Volta Regional House of Chiefs in Ho.

The meeting was part of activities to commemorate the three decades anniversary of Ghana’s 4th Republic and parliamentary democracy.

Mr Bagbin commended the Volta Region and for that matter, the NDC for producing quality parliamentarians since the commencement of the 4th Republic in 1993.

He disclosed that these members have played pivotal roles in preserving the country’s 4th Republic and the evolution of parliamentary democracy.

“Many should be thanking the Volta Region because the system that has taken us far was fashioned out by leaders from the Volta Region”, he said.

He referred Susanna Al-Hassan, whose mother hailed from Volta, and whose father was a German. She was the first female to be appointed minister, the first African woman to hold a cabinet portfolio, and the first female member of parliament for the then Northern Region parliamentary constituency, between 1960 and 1966.

“You should be proud that you are the architect of what we have enjoyed so far for thirty years. That is an achievement”, he said.

The NDC, which was founded by the son of the Volta Region, late President Jerry John Rawlings, had until 2020 won all parliamentary seats in the Volta Region. It has enjoyed a majority of total votes in presidential elections.

However, in recent times, the governing New Patriotic Party has been making inroads in the region, by securing the Hohoe seat in 2020 which is occupied by John Peter Amewu.

President Akufo-Addo polled 101,084 votes representing 14.1% of the total votes in 2020, which indicates a 3.3% increase from the 60,802 votes polled in the 2016 general elections.

John Mahama polled 606,424 (84.8%) votes which represented a 2.9% drop from the 2016 general elections.