Dangmes Voting Trend: Comparative Review Of Elections Held In The Dangme Constituencies In 2016.

ABSTRACT:
The aim of this review was conducted to assess the parliamentary performance of the Parliamentary candidates in the Dangme constituencies between the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) during the 2016 parliamentary elections.

The method employed an extensive search engines using key words such as parliamentary elections in the seven Dangme constituencies. The result proved that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) performed extensively well especially in the three Krobo blocks in the Eastern Region where they rat race the NDC and won a seat for the first time in the political history of this country at the Upper Manya constituency.

Shai-Osudoku, Ada and Ningo constituencies performed woefully on the ticket of the NPP and more room for future improvement.

In conclusion, the NDC has a big task ahead if measures are not put in place to come back on track in these Dangme areas as they are their stronghold. The NPP has a bigger opportunity to win three more seats in the Dangmeconstituencies come 2020 if they perform very well during their four years in office.

These potential areas to be won by the NPP in 2020 are Upper Manya, Lower Manya and Sege.

Background:
Seven constituencies are in the Dangme community: Ningo-Prampram, Sege, Ada, Shai-Osudoku, Upper Manya, Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo. These areas are stronghold of the National Democratic Congress since 1992. Concerns have been raised on the need for a change in the voting behavior of the Dangme people by the other Parties as some believed the NDC has taken them for granted for too long. Prior to the December 2016 general elections I predicted shaky seats for the NDC in the Dangme community and postulated that the NPP was set to win the first seat in the Dangme land.

I also postulated that a seat won in the elections during the course of the voting is a political apoptosis for the then ruling party, the NDC, in the general elections which all did happen. The NPP won the first seat in the political history of this country and also won the major elections. In this review, I bring to the public how the Dangme people voted in 2016 and the general outlook of the voting trends in the seven constituencies.

Discussion
The 2016 general elections proved that the Dangme community has indeed changed their perceptions and voting trends. They have proven this time around that they are only interested in development and not a political party or flag anymore.

The NDC still maintained their dominance in the Shai-Osudoku constituency (Fig 1, 2, 3, 4). Interestingly, the presidential candidates of both parties performed better than their Parliamentary candidates.

At Upper Manya, the NPP won the parliamentary seat for the first time in the political history of the country and also performed well in the presidential (Fig 5, 6, 7, 8)

The NPP also nearly won the Lower Manya seat (Fig 9, 10, 11, 12)

Ada still remains the stronghold of the NDC. Interestingly, it is the only constituency where the Parliamentary aspirants of the NDC had more votes than the Presidential. The NDC candidate is the only person to do this in the Dangme land (Fig 13, 14, 15, 16) whilst the NPP performed poorly.

At Yilo-Krobo, the NDC still remains a force (Fig 17). The NPP parliamentary candidate at Sege is gradually closing the gap (Fig 18, 19, 20, 21)

At Ningo-Prampram, NDC has bounced back on track with good performance (Fig 22, 23, 24, 25).

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Findings of the study:
Ada constituency is the world bank of the NDC in the Dangme land amongst the seven constituencies.

Ada constituency is the only area where the Parliamentary aspirant Hon. Comfort Doyoe Ghansah won more popular votes than the NDC presidential candidate John Dramani Mahama.

Comfort Doyoe Ghansah is a force to reckon with and the ‘Mugabe’ of the Dangme land.

The Krobo blocks Upper, Lower Manya and Yilo-Krobo have performed exceptionally well in the Dangme land for the New Patrotic Party.

The NPP won for the first time a seat in the Dangme land to break the Dangme NDC chains in the area.

The NPP seat won has open the door for the NPP to win more seats come 2020 in the Dangme areas.

The NPP is capable of winning additional seats in the Dangme land come 2020 if they performed exceptionally well. These areas are Lower Manya, Sege and Yilo-Krobo

Recommendation:
The NPP has to really work hard at Ada, Shai-Osudoku, Ningo-Prampram if they want to win these seats. They must infuse some vibrant candidates with more social interventions project to win these seats.

The NDC would have to do extraordinary work to win the Upper Manya seat back and also win the heart of the Krobo people again.

Some NPP candidates have to be changed to be able to win or perform well in 2020. Constituencies such as Shai-Osudoku, Ada and Ningo-Prampram must change their parliamentary candidates.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the NPP has really performed well in 2016 elections and they must do more to break more NDC chains in the area. NPP winning one seat in the Dangme land will go a long way to help change the voting pattern in the land.

If the NPP performed well during their four years it is likely more seats would be won in 2020: Sege, Lower Manya and Yilo-Krobo are places to watch out for in 2020 general elections.

Reference:

1. Ghana Election Shai-Osudoku Constituency Results. To be accessed at www. Graphic.com.gh>elections>2016
2. Ghana Election Upper Manya Krobo Constituency Results. To be accessed at www. Graphic.com.gh>elections>2016
3. Ghana Election Lower Manya Krobo Constituency Results. To be accessed at www. Graphic.com.gh>elections>2016
4. NPP breaks Dangme Tradition of voting. To be accessed at www.graphic.com.gh>politics
5. Ghana Election Ada Constituency Results. To be accessed at www. Graphic.com.gh
6. Ghana Election Sege Constituency Results. To be accessed at www. Graphic.com.gh
7. Ghana Election 2016 Results-Ningo Prampram Constituency-Peace FM. To be accessed at www.ghanaelections.peacefmonline.com>2016