Busunya, the electoral collation centre in the Nkoranza North Constituency of the Brong Ahafo Region, was thrown into wild jubilation by enthusiastic supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as soon as the Electoral Commission (EC) declared Major Derek Oduro (retd) winner of the Tuesday, March 13, by-elections in the constituency.
Major Oduro secured 10,179 votes, representing 63.64 per cent of the total 15,995 valid votes cast as against 5,694 votes, representing 35.60 per cent of the total ballots for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Dr Kofi Amoako-Gyampah.
The third contestant, Mr Osei Bonsu Jnr of the Democratic People's Party (DPP) obtained 122 votes, equivalent of 0.79 per cent of the total ballot.
The EC, which declared the election, results said 382 votes were rejected out of the total ballot of 16,377. It put the turnout at the polls to 68.95 per cent of the registered voters.
The total voter population in the constituency stands at 23,753, with 69 polling stations.
The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, Mr Eric Amoateng, who is currently facing trial in the United States of America for a drug-related offence.
The deplorable nature of the roads, as well as poor communication network in the constituency made collation of results very difficult for the EC.
However, party representatives and the large number of media personnel who thronged the Busunya Secondary School Library, where the exercise took place, waited till the final results of the contest were released.
As of 10:00 p.m. some of the Presiding Officers engaged by the EC had still not sent in the results from their respective polling stations as they had to rely on tractors and motorbikes to transport the ballots with the anxious crowd still waiting.
Jubilation by the NPP supporters started immediately after some of the ballots had been counted, especially at Busunya, which was said to be the home town of the NDC candidate.
The ecstatic supporters danced, sang, waved party paraphernalia and chanted party slogans amidst the tooting of horns by vehicle owners through the dusty streets of Nkoranza.
Story by Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah
& Samuel Duodu, Nkoranza
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