Abuga Pele, Gbediame lose NDC primaries
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the weekend held parliamentary primaries in four constituencies where the exercise had been postponed for various reasons.
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They included Chiana/Paga in the Upper East Region; Nkwanta South in the Volta Region; Krowor in the Greater Accra Region; and Upper West Akyem in the Eastern Region.
From Paga, Vincent Amenuveve reports that the incumbent Member of Parliament for Chiana/Paga, Mr Abuga Pele, on Saturday lost a keenly contested constituency primary to lawyer Rudolph Amenga-Etego.
Mr Amenga-Etego polled 4,337 votes to beat Mr Pele, who got 4,177 votes. The third candidate, Mr Jonathan Nyaaba, had 825 votes.
Total votes cast were 9,749, out of which 410 were rejected. Meanwhile 13,062 people had been expected to vote in the primary across the 53 polling centres in the constituency.
Mr Pele's loss brings to four the number of NDC incumbent MPs in the Upper East Region who have lost their bid to contest the parliamentary election on the party's ticket in the November polls.
The other three are Mr Emmanuel Akolbire Opam Brown, Bolgatanga Central; Mr Noah Ben Azure, Binduri; and Mr Dominic Azimbe Azumah, Garu.
The much-awaited Chiana-Paga primary was rescheduled from Saturday, July 9, 2016, to Saturday, July 16, 2016 partly because of the delay in the printing and arrival of some electoral materials in the constituency and a tour of the region by President John Dramani Mahama.
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The primary was put on hold when all the 15 constituencies in the region were expected to conduct their primaries simultaneously on November 21, 2015.
Candidate
When contacted, Mr Pele expressed worry over the widespread errors in the electoral processes and expressed the hope that those issues would be corrected in future primaries.
A spokesperson for Mr Amenga-Etego, Gilbert Atanga, said the newly elected parliamentary aspirant would work closely with the incumbent MP to ensure victory for the NDC in the November polls.
Mary Anane reports from Nkwanta South that a businessman, Geoffrey Kini, has been given the nod to contest the Nkwanta South parliamentary election on the ticket of the NDC.
He beat four others, including the incumbent MP, Mr Gershon Gbediame, to win the slot after the contest.
Votes polled
Mr Kini polled 7,637 votes, while Mr Gbediame managed a paltry 591 votes out of the 12,265 valid votes cast.
Mr Kini’s massive victory ended the five-term reign of Mr Gbediame, who has been an MP since 1997.
The three other contestants — Dr Felix Anebor, Solomon Bagme and Narayana Osei Nyarko Charles — secured 2,342, 1,626 and 69 votes respectively, with 452 being rejected.
A jubilant Mr Kini, thanking the people, pledged to foster unity in the party for massive victory in the November elections.