NPP ready for primaries in four constituencies in Upper West

The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Upper West Region says it is ready for a successful Parliamentary Primaries across the four out of the five constituencies won by the Party during the 2016 general elections.

The remaining Constituency, which is Nandom has its incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) and Minister of Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, going unopposed.

To be supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC), the four Constituencies are Wa East, Sissala East, Sissala West and Lawra, which will on Saturday, decide who would lead the Party into the crucial 2020 general elections.

Mr Ali Bukari, the NPP Upper West Regional Director of Communications in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, indicated that the Party was well prepared for a successful primaries come Saturday.

He noted that the Party would provide security for any candidate with security issues and appealed to candidates to endeavour to approach the Party for security assistance, if by chance they feel insecure and desist from using their own personal security.

He also appealed to candidates who would win the contest to be circumspect in their celebrations in order not to cause disaffection among Party members ahead of the main elections.

The Regional Communication Director encouraged all candidates who may have grievances to use Party structures to resolve their grievances rather than proceeding to court, which according to him would amount to dragging the name of the Party in the mud.

He appealed to non-delegates to also desist from going to the polling centres to crowd the place, adding that, the Party wants to ensure strict observance of the social distancing rule across all centres.

Mr Bukari said veronica buckets with water and soap, and hand sanitizers among others would be provided at every polling centre to ensure personal hygiene is observed, so as to prevent the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, in the Wa East District, three other candidates namely, Dr Yakubu Adama Sorikuon, Mr Baduon Nasirudeen and Mr Yakubu Salifu will be battling it out with the incumbent MP, Mr Godfrey Bayon Tangu.

The biggest rivalry is in Sissala East Constituency where Mr Amidu Chinnia Issahaku, the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister is seeking to unseat the incumbent MP, Mr Ridwan Abass, who won the seat for the first time for NPP.

Mr Patrick Alhassan Adama, the incumbent MP for Sissala West who also won the seat for the first time for NPP is being challenged by two young men namely, Mr Salifu Baluwie Naliwie, a former District Chief Executive for Sissala West District and Mr Luri Tia John Bosco, the Regional Youth Organiser of the NPP.

Mr Anthony Abaifaa Karbo, incumbent MP for the Lawra Constituency and Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways is being challenged by Mr Bilson Dontaah.

Mr Karbo rode on the disunity among members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Lawra Constituency to clinch the seat for the first time for the NPP in 2016.

It is worthy to note that the NPP before the 2016 elections had no single seat in the Upper West Region but went ahead to win five out of the 11 seats in the Region.

Their ability to maintain all five seats or more will not only be based on the general performance of the Party in government, but also the caliber of candidates that will be chosen to lead the Party into the Parliamentary elections this 2020 as the NDC is waiting patiently for a slip to reclaim its seats.