Tema West retains Carlos Ahenkorah as MP

The announcement of Carlos Ahenkorah, the New Patriotic Party(NPP) parliamentary candidate as the winner of the Tema West constituency was greeted with spontaneous celebration by the few supporters who had waited deep into the night for the declaration.

The 54-year-old lawmaker who was the incumbent MP but had resigned his role as a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry following his admission of breaching the COVID-19 protocols in July retained the seat by polling 46,707 representing 50.66 per cent of the total votes cast.

The other candidates; Dr Rafael Tufour of the NDC polled 44,171 or 47.91 per cent, Emmanuel Abossey Ashison of GUM got 674 representing 0.73 per cent, CPP's Solomon Kwasi Amponsah got 356 (0.39 per cent) and Karen Hyde of the NDP polling 293 representing 0.32 per cent respectively.

Ahenkorah who had an overwhelming endorsement by the constituents during the 2016 elections representing over 59 per cent of the total votes, told Graphic Online that he was surprised at how low the popularity of his party had dwindled within just four years.

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"My only surprise is the margin with which I won. I am very surprised. Actually, I don’t know what is happening, I think that NPP probably might have struck a wrong chord somewhere to incur the wrath of voters which has translated into the reduction of the popularity of majority of our Members of Parliament", he said.

He emphasised that the huge difference was worrisome and he is not proud of his performance and would want a thorough investigation into what might have swayed opinions of voters against them this time around.

"We need to identify what we didn't do right, how we prepared ourselves or how we've carried ourselves all along and this cut across the whole of Ghana. If I look at the number of NPP seats that are gone, our colleagues that have left us, I am very saddened", the newly elected MP said.

"In 2016, the difference between myself and the NDC person was about 14,900 but today, it is a little over 2000 and it is not something that I am proud of. I am only happy that I was able to retain the seat for the party", he stated.

After congratulating Mr Ahenkorah, Dr Tufour of the NDC raised some concerns over the voting process at Tema West.

"At the end of the day, it’s an election and there are two alternatives, it's either you win or you lose but I feel there were some inconsistencies but for the sake of democracy I will let it pass," he said.

"Because you can't have an election where you have interruption by the military just to have your way because you think you are in government, that's very bad but all the same I wish him well and Ghana should move on".

He accused the MP of using the military to intimidate his (Tufour) supporters and that Ahenkorah could have avoided the use of such anctics against a relatively new candidate.

"At least he being an experienced politician, he should have known better to, at least, restrain from using the military to intimidate innocent media personnel, party officials among others", Dr Tufour added.