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Who takes over Abuakwa North Constituency?

Dominica Vote Elections Ghana goes to the polls on December 7

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 Source: GNA

The Abuakwa North Constituency carved out of the Akyem-Abuakwa constituency in 2004 and has been one of the safest seats of the ruling NPP until 2004 when the constituency was divided.

The current President Akufo-Addo had won the seat for the NPP in 1996, 2000, and 2004.

Both the NPP Presidential and parliamentary candidates have consistently since the fourth republic, won the majority votes in this constituency and political watchers have argued that it appeared that voters in this constituency voted on party lines and therefore the candidates did not matter too much.

A predominantly farming area, the Abuakwa North constituency, has sixteen towns and villages, and notably among them is Kukurantumi, Old and New Tafo, Osiem and Anyinasin as well as 16 electoral areas with a total voter population of about 43,652 as at the end of the 2020 EC registration exercise.

The first Parliamentarian to lead the people of Abuakwa North was the late Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, of the NPP in the 2004 general elections with 16,027 votes to beat the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Simon Peter Asirifi, who had 7,596 and an independent candidate Peter Effah Owusu who had 2,223 votes.

Former President John Agyekum Kuffour, of the NPP, polled 16,722 votes in the Presidential race, whiles Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the NDC obtained 8,742 votes, Dr Edward Mahama of PNC and George Aggudey of CPP had 123 and 89 votes respectively.

In 2008, Professor Samuel Kwadwo Amoako won the seat on the ticket of the NPP by polling 14,760 votes, the NDC candidate Simon Peter Asirifi obtained 9,714 votes, Eric Asamoadu Dwapanyin of CPP had 257 and Hagan Asiedu Isaac of PNC had 242 votes, whiles then candidate Nana Akufo-Addo obtained 15,377 votes and Professor Mills had 9,341.

The late Joseph Boakye Danquah Adu, came back strongly to win the fiercely contested primaries with the incumbent MP and subsequently, the 2012 elections with 18,812 votes, whiles the NDC candidate, Mr Victor Smith polled 12,309, in the Presidential, Mr Akufo-Addo obtained 19,162 and then President John Mahama polled 12,309.

Before the 2016 general election, the killing of the then MP, Mr J.B Danquah Adu in February 2016, occasioned a by-election, and Mrs Gifty Twum-Ampofo, an educationist stood on the ticket of the NPP and won with 10,033 votes, however, the NDC boycotted that bye-election on grounds of sympathy.

Mrs Twum Ampofo, as incumbent went on to win the primaries of the NPP and contested in 2016 as their parliamentary candidate and obtained 17,838 votes while his contender, Mr Victor Smith of the NDC obtained 11,754 votes and an Independent Candidate Mr Adjei Danquah Patrick had 524 votes.

Nana Akufo-Addo maintained his dominance in the presidential race with 19,593 votes as against Former President John Mahama of NDC who had 10,004 votes, with the other five candidates obtaining 252 votes in total.

With the above description, the 2020 general election promises to be exciting as the NPP would want to prove their dominance over the seat, or the NDC would want to show that their message of the NPP performing abysmally had resonated well with the people to bring a change.

The incumbent MP, Mrs Twum-Ampofo who is currently a Deputy Education Minister popularly known in the constituency as Hajia Kande, is poised to give his party another resounding victory come December 7, after she defeated three other aspirants including Kofi Obeng-Mensah, Lawyer Nana Serwah Acheampong, and Lawyer Kay Amoah Junior at the NPP primaries.

The NDC candidate Rev Charles Darko Yeboah popularly known as Ozey, on the other hand, went unopposed in his party’s primaries and is convinced that he would pull a big surprise to register the NDCs first parliamentary victory for the area, come December 7.

Mrs Twum-Ampofo believes that her contribution to development in the constituency was huge, coupled with the fact that several developmental projects were ongoing as well as the benefits of the government's flagship programmes such as the free SHS and planting for food and jobs puts her at an advantageous position.

The NDC candidate, who is the Proprietor of Only Believe Senior High School at Akyem Kukurantumi, on the hand was hopeful that the constituents needed a change in parliament and with the contribution he had been able to offer the people in terms of supporting many through education, he was far ahead of winning the seat come December 7.

Source: GNA
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