Asante-Akim enclave votes for continuity, incumbents survive fierce contests

All three incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs) for the Asante-Akim area have survived the fierce contests they faced in their respective constituencies.

Mr Kwaku Asante Boateng, Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, and Mr Andy Appiah-Kubi, MPs for Asante-Akim South, Asante-Akim Central, and Asante-Akim North respectively retained their seats in the just-ended New Patriotic Party Parliamentary primaries.

In the Asante-Akim South Constituency, Mr Asante-Boateng for the second time defeated Mr Bice Obour Osei Kuffour, the Managing Director of Ghana Post, and Mr Eric Amofa after sweeping more than half of the total valid votes cast.

He polled 522 votes as against 280 garnered by Obour while Amofa only managed to secure 50 votes.

Mr Asante-Boateng who campaigned on his numerous achievements and interventions across the constituency, said he had always trusted in the delegates to reward his hard work.

He thanked the delegates, his campaign team, and everyone who played diverse roles in his victory, and assured the constituents of his commitment to work closely with all stakeholders, to build a prosperous Asante-Akim South together.

The situation was not different in the Asante-Akim Central Constituency where Mr Anyimadu-Antwi brushed aside competition from Mr Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP).

Stakes in that constituency were very high ahead of the crucial election, with many tipping Mr Nkansah to cause a major upset following his invitation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor over alleged diversion of state resources to delegates.

What even heightened the tension in the constituency was the allegations that the incumbent MP was behind the plight of the CEO of NEIP, setting the stage for a ferocious battle for the seat.

But Mr Anyimadu-Antwi left the young politician gasping for breath at the end of polls with a whopping 161 deficit, which sent his supporters into wild jubilation.

In the Asante-Akim North Constituency, the incumbent, Appiah-Kubi had to battle with four other contestants who wanted to snatch the seat but failed woefully.

Out of the total valid votes of 568, the incumbent garnered 226 leaving the four of them to share the remaining 342.

Consequently, all attempts by relatively young aspirants to unseat the three Asante-Akim MPs failed with delegates opting for continuity in the enclave.