Abass Nurudeen, regional communications director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ashanti Region has criticized the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, alleging that they are taking voters in the Ashanti region for fools.
Nurudeen emphasized that the perception of unwavering support from Ashanti voters has led the NPP to believe that they can deprive the region of opportunities and still win their vote.
Speaking in an interview with Akoma FM on July 1, 2023, he pointed to the recent by-elections in the Assin North and Kumawu constituencies as examples of this disregard by the party.
According to him, the NPP distributed seemingly insignificant items such as local rice and amounts of money as low as one Ghana cedi to voters in the Kumawu constituency.
He alleged that the NPP did so under the assumption that Ashanti voters would support the party regardless, whiles on the other hand, in the Assin North constituency, the NPP distributed as much as two hundred Ghana cedis, cutlasses, roofing sheets, and other expensive items to voters.
The NDC Communications director expressed disappointment and sadness over this disparity in treatment.
He argued that if the NPP truly respected the Ashanti region, they would have distributed the resources equally, with both constituencies receiving two hundred Ghana cedis in monetary gifts.
“When I went to Assin North I really felt sad, I am an Ashanti or someone who does his politics in the Ashanti region, because NPP people have taken Ashantis for fools.
"They have said that for Ashantis even if you bring a goat with the NPP flag they will still vote for it, so they have taken us like we don’t have sense because you will share money in Kumawu with local rice and one cedi, two cedis but for Assin North, you are sharing two million…
"It wasn’t only two million, cutlasses, roofing sheets, cement bags,” he said.
Additionally, he pointed out the economic disparity, noting that the NPP had used revenue from bauxite mining in Nyinahin to construct interchanges in other regions while the Ashanti region lacked essential infrastructure.
“Ashanti region that is a stronghold of the NPP, they have sat aloof for the NPP to use them, because if you will share money, share the same amount across the board.
But you go and share ten cedis and twenty cedis at Kumawu and go to Assin North to share two million, if Ashantis don’t learn from this, then it is up to us. NPP doesn’t respect you people, that’s why they can go and mine bauxite from Nyinahini and use the money to construct interchanges in different regions while the Ashanti region needs about 7 interchanges.”
Kumawu recently held a by-election as a result of the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Philp Atta Basoah which saw Ernest Yaw Anim, the NPP parliamentary candidate emerge as the winner in the election. He received 15,264 votes, representing 70.91% of the valid votes. Kwasi Amankwaa, who ran on the ticket of the NDC, received 3,723 votes, representing 17.29%.
Kwaku Duah, an independent candidate, secured 2,478 votes, representing 11.51%, while the other independent candidate Kwaku Dua II secured 62 votes representing 0.29%.
On the other hand, following a legal battle that questioned the Member of Parliament for Assin North James Gyakye Quayson’s eligibility to hold office due to dual citizenship concerns, a by-election was held to fill the parliamentary void on June 27, 2023.
According to the Electoral Commission's announcement, James Gyakye Quayson the former MP who contested again after denouncing his Canadian citizenship garnered a total of 17,245 votes, representing 57.56% of the total votes cast.
His closest contender, Charles Opoku of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), received 12,630 votes, accounting for 42.15% of the votes. Bernice Enyonam Sefenu of the Liberal Party Ghana (LPG) secured 87 votes, which represented 0.29% of the overall tally.
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