The Politics Of Ledzokuku

Since the birth of the 4th Republican constitution, Ledzokuku constituency in the Greater Accra region has had it fair share of the unpredictability of parliamentary elections in some constituencies.

So far, the constituency has had five MPs. Two of which are females and the rest males.

Interestingly, all have enjoyed one term in office with the exception of the late Nii Adjei Boye Sekan who had two terms. Thus from 1992-19996 and 1996 to 200.

So far in the history of parliamentary elections in the constituency, no one has been able to break that record.

Even in death, the late Nii Adjei Boye Sekan holds that title to his chest.

One may argue that, the Npp boycotted the 1992 elections so it’s no big deal but I disagree with such assertion. Boycott or no boycott, there was no where the Npp could have won the parliamentary elections then.

In my opinion, Mrs Gladys Norley Ashitey stands tall among the MPs who have represented the constituency excluding Dr. Bernard Oko Boye. I’m excluding him because, he is yet to complete his tenure in office.

Mrs Ashitey represented the constituency on the ticket of the Npp in 2004 and regardless of her unprecedented achievements, she lost the 2008 elections.

Several factors contributed to her defeat but the major factor was the Akan faction in the party. Ledzokuku is a typical Ga constituency and the indigenes are predominantly followers of the Ndc.

The Akan population in the constituency that increased tremendously in the 2000s enabled the party to win the seat for the first time with Akita has the candidate.

In 2008, the Akan faction felt discriminated against by the actions and comments of people around Mrs Ashitey hence transferring their votes to their hometowns. Those who didn’t transfer their votes, voted for the presidential candidate and ignored the parliamentary one. The presidential candidate had 31,603 votes as against 30,622. If you juxtapose this to the 2004 results you will appreciate the point I’m making.

OKO BOYE TO MAKE HISTORY?
I strongly believe Dr. Oko Boye can make history by becoming the first Npp Mp to represent the constituency twice. For now he is the darling boy of the party delegates so anyone who contests him will lose but It’s not going to be easy for Dr. in the general elections because of the twist the ndc has introduced.

THE NDC TWIST
The ndc has elected Mr. Ben Ayiku to represent them and I must admit it’s a solid choice. I expected Madam Sena to win in order to make things easy for my party but that wasn’t the case. Mr Ayiku is a very resourceful gentleman with lots of investments in the constituency. He has provided employment to a number of the youth in the country. One thing I personally admire about him is the fact that he employs them regardless of their political affiliation. A friend of mine who worked for him was reported to him as been a kukrudist but he never fired him. For now, I can confidently say he has the support of majority of the youth per the interactions I’ve had so far. But Dr. can beat him hands down only if he gets certain things right.

WHAT OKO NEEDS TO DO
For Dr. OKo Boye to retain the seat, he needs to have serious interactions with the Akan faction in the party. They are really peeved. The feel Dr. only attends to the needs of “his people”. I can’t confirm or deny this assertion coming from them but whatever the case, Dr. and leadership must do something about it to avoid the happenings in 2008 and 2012. Our elders says it’s only a fool who doesn’t learn from the mistakes of others.

Also he should be very careful about those around him. Some of them are the real trouble makers in the party which I believe he knows.

I guess this is enough the rest are strategic therefore I will make them available to leadership within the constituency.

Domfeh Kwabena Gyeabour remains my name and I’m still for Nana.

Still Npp beku me!!!