Scramble for 47 NDC slots in Ashanti

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, including a last-minute disqualification, 98 parliamentary aspirants of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) will be vying for 47 seats during the party’s upcoming primaries in the Ashanti Region. The aspirants include 12 women.

They are Dorcas Dufie for Asokwa, Theresa Tawiah for Atwima Nkwanwoma, Cecelia Tumtuo for Atwima Nwabiagya South, Mary Jantua for Bekwai, Gloria Huze for Ejisu and Monica Agyare for Kwadaso.

The rest are Juliana Anorhene for Ofinso South, N. N. Vivian for Afigya Sekyere East, Catherine Agyen for Fomena, Hajia Bintu Saana for Obuasi East, Mary Ewusi for Asante Akim North and Veronica Antwi for Bosomtwe.

 Unopposed aspirants

Also on the bill for the November 21 contest are 15 aspirants who are running unopposed. They are Degraft Forkuo for Asante Akim South,  Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak,  the Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Asawase, Daniel Kwaku Owusu for Atwima Kwanwoma, Mary Jantua for Bekwai, Monica Agyare for Kwadaso, S. L. Coffie for Manhyia and Juliana Anorhene for Offinso South.

The rest are Johnny Osei Kofi for Offorikrom, Memuna Kabore for Old Tafo, Kwaku Agyekum Asare for Afigya Kwabre North, Oppong Samuel for Akrofuom, Kwame Adarkwa for Bosome Freho, Alex Kwame Bonsu for Manso Nkwanta, Akuoko Frimpong for Nsuta Kwamang and Emmanuel Dede Appiah for Odotobri.

 Horse trading

The permutations and the horse trading in this year’s primaries could make it one of the keenly contested yet very interesting.

For instance, unlike previously where aspirants who wanted to challenge incumbents were largely not encouraged and asked to bid their time, the situation is different in many constituencies.

In one of the safest seats of the party in the region, Ahafo Ano North, where Akwasi Adusei is standing for the second time, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Peter Anarfi, has decided to contest the incumbent despite calls for him not to.

Indeed, his motivation to wrest the ticket from the incumbent is allegedly premised on calls by the grass roots to dislodge the sitting MP else the party could lose the seat.

This, no doubt, has made the contest in the constituency perhaps the hottest after Suame, where one of the party’s regional communications stalwarts, Francis Dodovi, face off with the regional Youth Organiser, Brogya Genfi.

The friendship of the two has become quite frosty following a last-minute decision by Gyenfi to contest his friend.

Indeed, the vetting of the two still hangs and unresolved following Mr Genfi’s official duty to the United Kingdom at the time the vetting was due. But as it stands, the two are billed to face off, with each of them hoping to increase President John Dramani Mahama’s votes at Suame.

The Suame seat remains one of NDC’s difficult terrains for the winner would have to do more than the ordinary to overturn the more than 50,000 - vote difference at the presidential level and close to 60,000 at the parliamentary level.

The sitting MP for the constituency and the Minority Leader for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has become one of two Ghana’s political ’Mugabes’, and it will be a tall order for anyone to dislodge him.

But the NDC has been realistic in its aspiration or target for the region and believes in a progressive addition or increase in the number of seats for the party.

 Safe seats

It is not clear which of the seats could be added to the four – Ahafo Ano North, New Edubiase, Sekyere Afram Plains and Asawase—as the contest between the biggest political parties appears hotter than expected.

But the incumbents on these apparent safe NDC seats, apart from Muntakar at Asawase, who is running unopposed,  could face stiff competitions from their fellow party members.

Apart from the Ahafo Ano North, where the regional minister is contesting the incumbent, in New Edubiase, the incumbent, Mr Kofi Yakah, has two other people on his heels.

A brother of the owner of New Edubiase Football Club, Abdul Salam, and a representative of the grass roots, Nicolas Yeboa, could give Mr Yakah a good run for his money.

 Sure bets

Two key constituencies remain one of the sure bets for the party to achieve its desired five seats and one million votes. They are the Obuasi East and one of the new constituencies created for the last elections, Ahafo Ano South East, where the Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, Mr Ofori Agyeman, and a chartered insurer, Mr Chris Boadi, respectively could just pick slots for the party.

Mr Agyeman is riding on his recent achievements in the provision of the first-ever multi-purpose bus terminal, a modern high court and allied facilities in the municipality, which were inaugurated by the Vice-President, Mr Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, recently to pick the slot for the area.

But his contender, Hajia Bintu Saana, has her trump card as affirmative action for women, which appears to be gaining grounds, especially in the surrounding mining communities such as Obuasi.

On the other side of the divide, Chris Boadi, who has been one of the key party financiers and a special assistant to the regional chairman, Mr Yaw Obimpeh, is counting on the constituents, mainly from the northern part of the country, to win the seat for the NDC. But his main rival and District Chief Executive for the area, Mr Gabriel Barima (Tweaa), would be a hard nut to crack in a three-horse race, including the little known Steve Kwadwo.

 Peripheral

Also likely to make a strong case for the party in the main elections but would have to scale over the primaries are former regional minister and long-standing cadre of the party, Mr Samuel Sarpong, for Nhiaso; his former deputy, Mr Samuel Yaw Adusei, who is now the Deputy Minister for Water Resources Works and Housing, for the Bantama seat; and the DCE for Bosomtwe, Veronica Antwi.

The battle is not all about the known faces. There are others who could pull surprises despite failing at the first time. Among them is Mr John Alexander Ackon, a deputy minister for Women and Children, who would have to step up his campaign or be disappointed by Dr Yaw Appiah.

It’s indeed show time for the NDC on November 21, and rightly so, the battle lines have been drawn and it would, perhaps, take more than just campaign messages to pick one of the 47 tickets for the NDC in the Ashanti Region.