Kumawu by-election: LPG withdraws candidate from race, predicts ‘win’ for NPP

The Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) has pulled out its parliamentary candidate from the Kumawu by-election, top officials from the Kofi-Akpaloo-led party have confirmed to dailymailgh.com.

The party’s General Secretary Jerry Owusu Appiah explains this sharp U-turn, following extensive consultations stressing that this is also to allow the party to commit resources to adequately prepare for the 2024 elections.

Collins Akuoko is number 2 on the ballot contesting six other candidates eyeing the seat, which was declared vacant, following the death of incumbent MP Philip Basoah.

“We have decided not to waste the little resources that we have…”, the party’s General Secretary Jerry Owusu Appiah told dailymailgh.com.

We have a good candidate [in Kumawu] but looking at the time and the nature of the situation on the ground we have decided to concentrate on the 2024 polls”, Appiah said.

The chief scribe who predicted a win for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Ernest Yaw Anim said, “When you go on the ground the NPP candidate is winning, based on our research the [NPP] has a candidate who is liked by many in the constituency and it is the major reason we had to pull out of the by-election”, he further explained.

Appiah also confirms the party has opened nominations in all 275 constituencies across the country ahead of their parliamentary primary.

Interested applicants are to pick their nomination forms from Monday 15th May 2023 and submit them on 31st July 2023 at the party’s headquarters in Accra, the regional offices or on their website.

They are to pay GHC 500.00 for the forms and pay GHC 2,000.00 for the filing of their nominations.

Parliament, before adjourning sine die for the Easter holidays, notified the EC of the need to conduct a by-election in the Kumawu Constituency following the death of Philip Basoah, the NPP MP for the area.

The EC has set 23 May for the by-election.

Basoah, 53, was a member of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic.