<<Print>>Various names are already making the rounds as potential parliamentary aspirants of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), two days to the opening of nominations for aspiring presidential and parliamentary candidates of the party for the 2016 general election.
What is not clear as of now, however, is whether any of the leading members of the party will muster the courage to contest President John Dramani Mahama.
Whatever the situation may be, it is clear that many new faces are lacing their boots for the parliamentary primaries, which, for the first time, will involve all members of the party in all the constituencies in voting.
For this, the leadership of the party planned to finish the biometric registration of its members by the end of Sunday, August 23.
With nomination forms ready to be picked on Thursday, many party members have predicted a keen contest, which may ultimately end in the defeat of some incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs) in the primaries to be held in November.
Now that the primaries are drawing near, some incumbents have come back to life in the constituencies, actively undertaking all kinds of projects and being involved in grass-roots mobilisation, all in a bid to win votes.
Interesting names that have popped up but do not appear surprising to political pundits include presidential staffers at the Flagstaff House.
A presidential staffer, Clement Apaak, says he will contest the Builsa South slot, having taken to his Facebook page to confirm what started as a rumour.
“Yes, I will contest. I will seek the mandate of the rank and file of the NDC in Builsa South as PC [parliamentary candidate]! The time has come; we will take back our seat! Eye Zu!”, he wrote.
The Builsa South seat is currently held by Alhassan Azong of the People’s National Convention (PNC).
Mr Sam Nartey George is also contesting Ningo Prampram seat where the incumbent veteran E.T Mensah is leaving no stone unturned to retain that seat.
Dr Kpessa White, the Acting Director of the National Service Scheme, is also lacing his boots to contest the Shai Osudoku slot.
Mr Sam Kwesi Fletcher, head of Public Affairs of VRA, is contesting Gomoa West whilst Mr Edward Abambire Bawa, the PRO of Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, is also contesting Bongo.
Across the country, NDC stalwarts, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and MP for Awutu Senya West in the Central Region, Madam Hannah Serwaa Tetteh, are seeking re-election. She is likely to face fierce competition in the primaries as a determined retired soldier and member of the party, Lieutenant Danny William Osardu, vows to unseat her.
Relatedly, Mr Bede Zeideng, a former Upper West Regional Minister, who is also the Deputy Director of Elections for the party, is contesting the Lawra slot. The seat is occupied by Abu Sampson.
The Northern Regional Minister, Mohamed Muniru-Limuna, is going for the Damongo slot and so he will contest the incumbent Adam Mutawakilu.
The Deputy Northern Regional Minister, A.B.A. Fuseini, is also seeking re-election at Sanlerigu.
Ras Mubarak of the National Youth Authority is eyeing the Kumbungu slot, while Felix Ofosu Kwakye is also going for the Ablekuma North slot, with the Mayor of Accra, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuye, eyeing the Ablekuma South slot.
Fritz Baffour is the current MP there, but it is believed that he is not seeking re-election.
Baba Jamal is also seeking re-election at Akwatia, while Kobby Acheampong is eyeing the Cape Coast North slot, with the incumbent Barton Odro, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, not likely to contest the seat again.
Dr Paul Mark Arhin, who is the Deputy International Relations Director at the NDC Headquarters, is eyeing a seat in the Central Region.
Some new entrants who will pick forms are broadcast journalist Eric Don-Arthur, for Effutu; Abeiku Santana for Mfantsiman West and Alhassan Suhuyini, Tamale North.
At the KEEA, the late Prof J.E.A. Mills’s brother, Sam Atta Mills, is lacing his boots to contest the slot, while Ezanetor Rawlings, the daughter of former President Rawlings, is likely to contest the Korley Klottey slot.
In the Eastern Region, Owuraku Amofa, a former Deputy Minister of Tourism during President Rawlings's tenure, has resurfaced to contest as a parliamentary candidate on the ticket of the NDC in Abuakwa South.
A former MP for the area from 1992 to 1996, he lost his bid to go to Parliament again when he was defeated by the current flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
During the 2008 presidential election, Mr Amofa threw his weight behind Nana Akufo-Addo, and when Akufo-Addo lost, Mr Amofa went into political hibernation.
In the Volta Region, the World Bank of the NDC, a Tema-based businessman, Mr Rocky Amudzi, has commended the leadership of the NDC for widening the electoral college to include all registered party faithful in choosing preferred candidates during the party’s parliamentary primaries scheduled for November 7.
According to him, that new process of choosing parliamentary candidates “is the best way to determine the real people’s man/woman in the various constituencies”.
Mr Amudzi, who announced his intention to contest the Keta slot, which he had lost to the current MP, Mr Richard Quashigah, in 2012, said he had been motivated by the numerous development projects being undertaken by President Mahama, which he expresses the hope to take advantage of to better the lives of the people of Keta if given the mandate.
He promised to push for the creation of a fishing harbour and a landing site in Keta to support the work of the fishermen and fisherfolks, as well as create employment for the unemployed youth of the area.
The aspirant said he was a great unifier and needed the people’s mandate to unite all the feuding factions in the constituency to make it possible for the people of the Keta municipality to get their fair share of the national cake.
The battle for a candidate to replace the MP for Agotime-Ziope, Mrs Juliana Asumah Mensah, in the 2016 elections is bringing out a mix of interesting scenarios in the constituency.
At the heart of the heat currently being generated following the tentative announcement of the opening of nominations is a rife debate concerning an unwritten agreement between the two areas that form the constituency.
The agreement, according to reliable sources, is that there would be an alternation of the positions of MP and the district chief executive (DCE) between the two areas every four years.
Therefore, going by that agreement, the candidate for the position of MP should come from the Ziope Traditional Area, while that for the DCE should come from Agotime.
While the argument in favour of this agreement is being forcefully led by the Ziope end, activists and sympathisers from Agotime are kicking against what they call an illegal unwritten agreement.
So far, information picked up by the Daily Graphic points to the fact that three persons have been tipped to contest the primary.
They are Charles Agbeve, the Elections Director for the NDC and Ho Municipal Director of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Mr Agbeve hails from the Ziope Traditional Area.
It is also rumoured that Mr David Dzreke, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Assembly Press in Accra who doubles as the vice-chairman of the Agotime-Ziope Association, is lacing up his shoes to contest the slot.
Mr Dzreke is an indigene of Agotime-Kpetoe.
Another name that has been picked is Elvis Attivoe, described by many as having affable characteristics that could blind and bond the two areas together in defying the ‘unwritten agreement’.
Attivoe is said to be the toast of the chiefs and people of Agotime, as well as some power brokers in Ziope who know of his personal disposition.
Anlo is another hot bed where the incumbent, Mr Kofi Humado, a former Minister of Youth and Sports and Agriculture, nicknamed “Old Roger”, is said to have paid his dues and must move on but he thinks otherwise.
Names that have come up in that constituency are Alex Doe, Mawunyegah Gandhi, Frank Torblu and Victor Kutor.
The MP for Nkwanta South, Mr Gershon Gbediame, who has occupied the seat for 20 years, is another personality who may yet get a fiery fight from whispered names such as Geoffrey Kini, a grass-roots person, and Dr Felix Anebo, an indigene of Adele.
But by far, Akan is the likely place that may signal an immeasurable level of heated activity should the defeated candidate of the party in the last elections, Mr Gyapong Kudzo, who is currently the regional chairman of the party, decides to contest.
He will be contesting, if he does, against Mr Joseph Kofi Ofori, the incumbent, who won as an independent candidate.
Mr Ofori had lost the primary to Mr Kudzo but defied the odds and contested as an independent candidate.
With Mr Kudzo assuming the position of regional chairman, the likelihood of a sweet revenge may be on his mind following the revival of party structures and activities in that constituency, according to party activists.
A Deputy Education Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is seeking re-election in North Tongu.
He is highlighting the achievements he has chalked up in the constituency during his tenure as MP since 2012.
From the Ashanti Region, Alexander Obeng will contest the Mampong slot, while Christian Yeboah Boateng is eyeing Ejisu, with Mohammed Alhassan contesting Afigya Sekyere; Sawadogo Mahmoud, Kwabre East, and Richard Ofori Agyeman Boadi, Obuasi East.
John Rhule Senkyire is also eyeing the Sekondi slot in the Western Region.
Meanwhile, we are yet to hear of any new face(s) contesting the MP for Tamale South, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, who is likely to seek re-election.
Decision to contest
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has given an assurance that the party has dispatched election notices and nomination forms to the regions for onward distribution to the constituencies.
“So far everything is on course,” he told the Daily Graphic.
He, however, cautioned aspirants that democracy did not mean litigation on all issues and advised them and members of the party who needed clarification of any aspect of the guidelines to contact the appropriate offices.
“The guidelines are there to guide the party and I wish to entreat aspirants in particular to adhere strictly to them,” Mr Nketia stated.
Relatedly, the Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho, has also admonished aspirants to check themselves before picking forms to contest the primaries.
He said although the party was not barring any member from contesting either the presidential or the parliamentary primaries, it was a necessary exercise for all aspirants to weigh the decision of contesting very carefully.
New arrangement
Under the new arrangement agreed upon by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in Accra, all registered members of the party will have the right to vote in 6,000 branches throughout the country.
For the presidential slot, the filing fee is GH¢50,000, while that for the parliamentary is GH¢10,000.
The NEC has offered a rebate of 50 per cent for women and physically challenged aspirants.
As a result, the filing fee for women and the physically challenged will be GH¢5,000.
President Mahama and other top functionaries of the party were at the NEC meeting, which was held at the Local Government Institute at Madina in Accra.
Biometric registration
The NDC, according to sources, hopes to register 1.5 million Ghanaians as it completes a massive biometric membership registration drive soon.
Mr Asiedu Nketia told the media recently: “We’ve been registering for some time now and so we’ve got a sizeable number of our party members registered. We are doing just around one million members now and the breakdown is roughly that the Volta Region is leading by over 150,000; they are getting close to 200,000.”
The Northern Region was approaching 150,000, followed closely by the Brong Ahafo with 120,000 and the Western Region around 100,000.
The Eastern region was also around 100,000 and the Ashanti Region was around 100,000, according to the General Secretary.
He said the party anticipated the number would double in the shortest possible time now that the party had fixed a closing date for the exercise.
“So overall we are targeting 1.5 million registered members who want to discharge their obligations and responsibilities as full members of the party,” he said.
The NDC has adopted some measures to increase its membership base nationwide, especially in the strongholds of the opposition NPP.
The NDC earlier this year launched a “1 million votes for Mahama” project in the Ashanti Region and Agenda 50/50 in the Eastern Region in the hope of increasing its votes in the two regions in the 2016 general election.
Deepen democracy
Mr Anyidoho said the expansion of the electoral college was to deepen democracy and strengthen the base of the party.
Besides, it would do away with the incidence of vote-buying that characterised elections by a limited electoral college.