Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu
A former Deputy Communication Minister in the erstwhile Mahama administration, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has disclosed that he is interested in contesting the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese parliamentary seat in the Central Region on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2020 general elections.
The seat is currently occupied by the governing New Patriotic Party’s Elvis Morris Donkoh, who polled 22,245 votes (50.65 per cent) to beat the then-incumbent NDC’ Samuel K. Hayford, who polled 20,508 (46.69 per cent), in the 2016 general elections.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu, who is an aide to former President John Mahama, flag bearer of the biggest opposition party, told Umaru Sanda Amadu in an interview on Thursday, 18 April 2019 that he intends – should he become the MP for the constituency – to join forces with the relevant local government authorities, to help realise the full economic potential of the area.
“First of all, they need a certain kind of projection at the national stage”, he identified, explaining: “It appears that despite its enormous potential – it’s quite a large constituency, over 230 communities, 136 branches for the NDC alone, I’m sure a similar number for the NPP; it is populated by mostly youthful people, it has a lot of agricultural potential – … it remains untapped because, perhaps, they have not had the sort of representation that they require or they need at the national level”.
“So”, he continued: “The first point is to focus the need for attention at the national level on that constituency and also leverage my own experiences in government, my own knowledge of the governance system and parliamentary processes, to ensure that we are able to represent them effectively, and also ensure that we liaise with the appropriate agencies and relevant local authorities to direct the sort of development that is needed”.
The constituency, he said, “is traditionally an NDC seat”, pointing out that: “We’ve held it five times out of seven”.
“We lost it in 2004 but we quickly recovered and regained it in 2008. In 2016, they voted ‘skirt-and-blouse’ for some internal reasons but President Mahama actually won the presidential elections, we lost the parliamentary election to the NPP but it is a transient victory”, he asserted.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu said despite his parliamentary ambition, he did not intend going ahead of himself, since the leadership of the NDC has not yet opened nominations for interested aspirants to make a pitch.
