Supporters of both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Sunyani West Constituency are upbeat about the chances of their candidates in the 2016 general election.
In a random interview conducted in the constituency, some of the NDC supporters said there was no way the NPP could win the seat on November 7, 2016. In their view, the NDC deserves to win the seat as a result of the numerous projects it has undertaken in the constituency.
Those who spoke in favour of the NPP indicated that the Ghanaians would kick out the NDC during the November 2016 polls “and this will begin from the Sunyani West Constituency”.
According to them incumbent Mr Baffuor –Awuah has done enough with little resources available to him and the people would reward him with another term to enable him to continue his good works.
The battle now is between Mr Baffuor-Awuah and the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Justice Samuel Adjei, who is contesting the seat on the ticket of the NDC.
After losing his bid to win the Sunyani East seat, Mr Adjei has switched to his home district in the hope that he can achieve his aim of going to Parliament to champion the cause of his people.
“This is the time for the NDC to win the Sunyani West seat. The NDC has done enough in the district to deserve a better reward from the people”, Mr Adjei told the Daily Graphic in an interview.
These and other matters are going to determine the outcome of the 2016 general election in the Sunyani West Constituency.
Constituency profile
The Sunyani West Constituency, which doubles as the Sunyani West District, was created before the 2008 general election and has since been occupied by the NPP.
Apart from the district capital, Odomase, other major towns in the constituency are Chiraa, Nsoatre, Fiapre, Domasua, Ayakomaso, Kwatire and Adantia, with a host of villages and small settlements.
The number of people in the constituency, according to the 2010 Population Census, is 85,272, representing 3.7 per cent of the total population of the Brong Ahafo Region. Females constitute 51.5 per cent, while males represent 48.5 per cent. About 70.8 per cent of the population reside in urban localities.
The peoplen less than 15 years of age in the constituency account for 38.3 per cent of the population.
Economy
About 70.4 per cent of the population aged 15 and above are not economically active. Out of the economically active population 92.9 per cent are employed while 7.1 per cent are unemployed.
For those who are economically active, most of them are students (55.6 per cent) with the 21.4 per cent unemployed seeking work for the first time.
Occupation
Of the employed population, about 47.1 per cent are engaged as skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers, 20 per cent in service and sales, 12 per cent in craft and related trade and 9.6 per cent engaged as managers, professionals and technicians.
2016/ 2012/ 2008 polls
It is a fact that Ghana’s Fourth Republican politics have been dominated by the NDC and the NPP and that is exactly what is happening in the Brong Ahafo Region, with Sunyani West as no exception.
The battle for this seat, therefore, is between the NPP and the NDC and their candidates will leave no stone unturned to get every single vote available in their quest to win the seat.
In the 2012 general election, the incumbent, Mr Baffuor-Awuah, retained the seat with 26,153 votes out of the total votes cast of 49,750, while Mr Nyamekye-Marfo came second with 22,620 votes.
It is significant to note that even though the incumbent retained his seat, his 61.9 per cent in 2008 was reduced to 53.2 per cent in 2012.
The 39,219 total votes cast in 2008 increased to 49,750, a difference of 10,531 votes. While the NDC candidate had as much as 8,387 out of this difference, the incumbent had only 2,105 out of the 10,531, with the other candidates sharing the rest.
In the 2008 general election, the seat was contested for by six parliamentary aspirants. They were Mr Ignatius Baffuor-Awuah, NPP; Ms Elizabeth Takyiwaa, PNC; Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, NDC; Mr Ben Amoah-Amponsah, CPP, Collins Ansu Yeboah, DFP and Frederick Kwadwo Antepim, CPP.
In that election, apart from the NPP and the NDC contestants, none of the other contestants was able to secure one per cent of the total votes of 39,219.
NPP’s Baffuor-Awuah, who won the seat, had 24,048 votes (61.9 per cent), while NDC’s Nyamekye-Marfo got 14,233 (36.64 per cent).
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