For the first time in 20 years, delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Adansi-Asokwa Constituency in the Ashanti Region will be going to the polls to elect a candidate to contest the parliamentary election.
The last five primaries had been by popular acclamation as the incumbent, Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, was always the sole candidate.
However, the entry into the race by a former President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Mr Samuel Binfoh Dakwa, has generated a lot of interest from both party supporters and residents; with Mr Dakwa vowing to unseat Mr Hammond, a political stalwart.
So far, only the incumbent, Mr Hammond, and the new kid on the block, Mr Dakwa, have picked nomination forms to contest the primaries.
The two candidates have laced their boots and are campaigning vigorously to get the nod from the delegates on April 25.
Tension
There is seeming tension among the delegates over who represents the party in the upcoming election.
Some of the youth in the town have accused the incumbent MP of hijacking the party and manipulating activities there to his advantage, while preventing any contest of his position.
Some of the youth, therefore, see the entry of Mr Dakwa as welcome news and are rooting for him to unseat Mr Hammond. They claimed that Mr Hammond had locked up the party’s office that he had refurbished and had not allowed anyone to operate from it.
However, the Constituency Chairman, Mr Kwame Owusu, disagreed with the assertions by the youth. Even though the office remains locked, Mr Owusu told the media that the place was under renovation and that it was the MP who was undertaking the works.
He added that he believed that when the works were completed, the keys would be handed over to him. In the meantime, he stated that he had opened another office in his house, which was accessible to the executives and members of the constituency.
According to him, party activities could not come to a halt because the office was under renovation, hence his decision to convert one of his rooms into a temporary office to ensure that activities of the party in the constituency went on smoothly.
That notwithstanding, some of the youth believed that it was time for the incumbent to step down as he had nothing new to offer. They said they wanted a youthful candidate to take over and revive the fortunes of the party in the constituency.
They contended that over the years, the MP’s share of the votes had been dwindling, while those of the President had remained almost the same or risen just slightly.
They expressed fear that if care was not taken, the NPP might lose the seat, hence their call for a new candidate.
Candidates
The incumbent is a lawyer by profession and has a wealth of experience, having served as the MP of the area since 2000. He once served as a Deputy Minister of Energy during President John Agyekum Kufuor’s tenure.
Mr Hammond has over the years gained a lot of experience as a lawmaker. His contributions to the constituency have earned him the enviable status of the Nkosuohene of the Adansi-Asokwa Traditional Area.
Mr Dakwa, popularly known as Sammy Binfoh, his contender, though relatively younger is also not a minnow in politics as he has been into student politics for some time and rose to become the NUGS President in 2013.
Mr Dakwa also has more than 15 years’ experience in politics, having been active in the party at the regional level.
He holds an MBA in Finance and ACCA Part 1 Certificate in Accounting.
He currently serves as the Chairman of the youth wing of the party’s Committee on Policy and Research. In 2018, he acted as the Chairman of the Students Committee of the youth wing of the party.
He has a wealth of experience in party organisation and is credited with mobilising all the head porters from northern parts of the country to go back to their hometowns to vote in the 2016 general election, which resulted in the NPP winning some seats in the north which had never been won by the party in the past.
Chiefs
The chiefs of the Adansi Traditional Area have, however, distanced themselves from the contestants and asked them to conduct their campaign on their own and not involve them.
The Adansihene, Opagyakotwere Bonsra Afriyie II, reacting to a claim by the incumbent that the chiefs of Adansi were behind his candidature, said the law precluded chiefs from politics and, as such, neither of the candidates should use them to seek support from delegates.
He said even though the incumbent was the Nkosuohene of the area, it did not mean that the chiefs supported him. He, therefore, advised the candidates to go to the people and sell their vision to them, rather than ride on the traditional status of chiefs, however insignificant, to lure the people.
Statistics
Performance of NPP as compared to the NDC over the years in the constituency
Presidential
1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
NPP 44.5 % 55.6% 63% 57.4% 55.6% 61.82%
NDC 54.9% 40.9% 35.9% 39.6% 42.9% 36.9%
Parliamentary
1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016
NPP 38.1% 54.4% 62.9% 55.7% 51.1% 54.37%
NDC 47.6% 38.2% 36.3% 37.6% 45.8% 40.90%
---graphic.com.gh
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