Accra, June 16, GNA - Mr Jonathan Tackie Komme, Member of Parliament (MP) for Odododiodioo, on Sunday defeated two other contestants at a constituency delegates' conference in Accra. This would enable him stand as the parliamentary candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the constituency in the General Election.
Mr Komme polled 126 votes while Mr. Walid Laryea, a former Constituency Youth Organiser, had 96 votes with Mr. Benjamin Ayikuma Okai, a former Constituency Vice Chairman getting 21 votes with three abstentions.
The election was supervised by Nana Oduro Numapau, Ashiedu Keteke District Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission.
Addressing the delegates before the election, Mr. Komme said he had been tried, tested and proven in his two and half-year term as an MP and appealed to the delegates to give him the nod to enable him to continue serving the people.
The MP said he has achieved much as a former assembly member for the Kinka Electoral Area and an MP and urged the delegates to give the nod to the contestant with the experience to articulate their concerns in Parliament better.
Mr. Laryea, who described himself as a Businessman, said he would make the welfare of the people his main concern if the delegates gave him their mandate to contest the election to become their representative in Parliament.
Mr. Okai, a school proprietor, promised to give scholarships to children of the delegates' if they voted for him to contest the election as the candidate of the NDC.
Alhaji Said Sinare, a National Vice Chairman of the NDC, called on the delegates to select the "Right" parliamentary Candidate who would suit the party, serve them better and help the NDC flag bearer, Professor John Evans Atta Mills to win the Presidential Election to form the next government.
He described 2008 as "The year of the NDC" and predicted that the party would win in the Northern, Volta and Central regions while the Western Region was being "Worked on" and said "The other regions would be left for them".
Dr Sydney Laryea, a member of the National Executive Committee, advised the delegates to ensure an incident free Constituency Conference to prove to the world that the NDC was not a violent party and that the people of Odododiodioo were decent and intelligent.
The Constituency Chairman, Mr. Daniel Okai, gave an account of his executive's stewardship since they took over the administration of the party in the area after the party had lost the 2000 election. He said they overhauled the NDC machinery in the constituency and put in place an interactive political and electoral management system, which worked to perfection enabling the party to regain the seat in the 2004 Election and the by-election in 2005.
Mr. Okai stated that the systems would be "reactivated" to ensure victory for the party in the December Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
After the announcement of the results of the election Mr. Komme embraced the two other contestants amidst jubilation by the delegates and party songs and slogans. Speaking to the GNA after the election, the MP expressed his thanks for the delegates for the confidence reposed in him and said he would work assiduously to retain the seat for the NDC.
He commended the other contestants for giving him "A good run" and said "As members of the Umbrella family" all the campaign teams for the primary had been dissolved and promised to incorporate the contestants who lost the primary into one coordinated group and to tap their experience and influence for the benefit of the party.
In a solidarity message delivered by Mr Niibi Ayi-Bonte, the New Patriotic Party called for co-operation between political parties to deepen the country democratic dispensation. Present at the conference were some members of the NEC, Greater Accra Regional and Constituency executives and Minority Members of Parliament and observers from the various political parties.
