Election 2024: Can the NPP retain Okaikwei South seat?

The Okaikwei South Constituency is considered a stronghold of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Greater Accra Region. Since its creation, the NPP has been the dominant party in the constituency and has won seven out of eight elections since the country returned to constitutional rule in 1992.

In 1992, Orlando Aryee of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the seat for the first time after the NPP boycotted the elections.

However, in 1996, when the NPP contested, Nana Akomea claimed the seat for the party and continued to win in three consecutive elections, namely 2000, 2004, and 2008.

In 2012, Nana Akomea bowed out and was succeeded by Ahmed Arthur, who was an Assemblyman for the Kaneshie Electoral Area. In the 2012 elections, Arthur won the seat again for the NPP and went on to retain the seat in the 2016 General Election.

Arthur, however, lost his third-term bid to Dakoa Newmann in an internal party contest in 2019, with Newmann winning the seat in the 2020 elections.

For the upcoming 2024 General Election, the contest is between the incumbent, Dakoa Newmann, the Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, and Collins Adomako Kissi, aka KEON, of the NDC, who is said to have done a lot of work in the constituency.

According to some constituents, the December 7, 2024 elections will be tough for the incumbent MP due to disaffection among some NPP supporters, who claim they have been neglected by the Minister and Government since they came to power.

The NDC candidate is likely to take advantage of the situation to persuade the disenchanted NPP supporters to vote for him to increase his chances.

The voter population for the 2020 elections was 99,383. For the presidential polls, President Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo garnered 38,117 votes, representing 57.05 percent, while NDC’s John Mahama got 28,217 votes, representing 42.217 percent.

For the parliamentary election, the NPP’s candidate, Dakoa Newman, secured 40,393 votes, representing 60.82 percent, while the NDC’s candidate, Abraham Kotei Neequaye, had 26,019 votes, representing 39.18 percent.

A visit by the GNA to the constituency shows that both the NPP and NDC have mounted billboards and hoisted party flags on electric poles and other structures in the communities to enhance their visibility.

Also, both the NPP and NDC candidates have been going around the constituency, engaging groups of people at vantage areas.

Some issues facing the constituency are poor roads, water, drainage problems, lack of toilet facilities, and non-functioning street lights.

The Okaikwei South Constituency forms part of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly and covers areas like Kaneshie, Bubuashie, Avenor, Police Training Depot, and parts of Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

The constituency is populated by people in the informal sector, largely traders, with a few people considered to belong to the economic middle class. The constituency shares boundaries with Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Ayawaso Central, and Ablekuma Central.