Lawyer Philip Addison to contest as Akropong MP?

After losing the Klottey Korle parliamentary seat to the daughter of the former President Jerry John Rawlings, Zanetor Agyemang-Rawlings, lead counsel for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2012 election petition Lawyer Philip Addison seems to be eyeing the Akropong seat as the NPP parliamentary candidate in the 2020 general elections.

It appears that Mr Addison has been consistent in Akropong, meeting up with opinion leaders and also participating actively in every gathering or programmes organised in the town.

A Facebook page chanced upon by GhanaWeb has the inscription “PhilipAddison2020; parliamentary candidate for Akropong.”

Mr Addison in a recent interview with Accra based Citi FM hinted that he will possibly be contesting the Klottey Korle seat again in the 2020 elections but not 100% certain.

He indicated that he is currently ensuring that all the obstacles that blocked his victory for the NPP in the last election are removed.

“At the moment it is not 100%, but I’m trying to make sure that all those obstacles that prevented us from winning the seat the last time around are removed. When the time comes for us to cross the road, we will cross it,” he said in a Citi News interview.

It is unclear what has made Mr Addison change his decision to now move to contest the Akropong seat as its parliamentary candidate in 2020 but under the electoral rules of Ghana, candidates can contest in a constituency if they hail from or reside in the constituency.

Prior to the 2016 general elections, Lawyer Philip Addison defeated Nii Noi Nortey in the NPP’s parliamentary primary in a controversial manner.

Unhappy with some issues that rocked the primary, Nii Noi Nortey left the party and contested as an independent candidate in the constituency.

Both men could not get the majority votes to represent the constituency in Parliament, thus giving Miss Rawlings a resounding victory.

Mr Addison's switching seat from Klottey Korle to Akropong will not be the first time a politician has done that in the history of Ghanaian politics.

Boniface Abubakar Siddique moved from his hometown Salaga in the Salaga South constituency in the Northern Region to Madina constituency in the Greater Accra Region to contest as their parliamentary candidate.

His move to the Madina constituency followed his defeat in the parliamentary polls in the Salaga South Constituency during the 2012 general elections, where he contested on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He, however, made his way down south to the Madina constituency where he defeated the National Democratic Congress’ incumbent MP, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho securing 54.98% of the vote.