Last Wednesday’s elections produced some very interesting results, affecting influential government officials.
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) captured not less than 171 seats in parliament in addition to annexing the presidency.
Some of the party’s parliamentary candidates performed exceptionally well, with large margins against the main opponents in the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In Tema West, for instance, newcomer, Carlos Ahenkorah won with 44,579 votes, representing (59.52%), with James Enu of the NDC garnering 29,742 votes (39.71%); PPP’s Marshall Dogbatsey took home 404 votes (0.54%); CPP’s Peterkin Kwame Ki-Adano managed 99 votes (0.13%) and NDP’s Awotwe Kweku going home with 78 votes (0.10%)
Total votes cast were 74,902 with rejected ballots of 245 and a turnout of 65.84%.
In 2012, NPP’s Naa Torshie Addo beat NDC’s Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo with 50 of the votes, making Carlos’ votes a major boost for the main opposition party.
Naa Torshie Addo secured 39,950 votes to edge out Ofosu-Ampofo – then Minister for Local Government and Rural Development – who had 39,005 votes.
That was the closest the NDC had come in its effort to capture that seat.
All the three Tema Metropolis seats went to the NPP.
The 2016 presidential slot was equally won by the NPP with a higher margin.
Casualties
Casualties were recorded in some constituencies, as certain key members of the Mahama-led ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) lost their parliamentary seats.
Key among the major casualties included Minister of Foreign Affairs and incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Awutu Senya, Hanna Tetteh; Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hannah Louisa Bissiw; Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mohammed Baba Jamal; Deputy Education Minister, Alex Kyeremeh; Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Vincent Oppong Asamoah and Chairman of the Ghana National Fire Service Board, Amadu Sorogo.
The rest were MP for La Dadekotopon, Nii Amasa Namoale; Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo; Deputy Agric Minister, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh; Sanja Nanja; Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed and Bede Ziedeng.
The Foreign Minister lost the seat to NPP’s Nenyi George Andah.
Hannah Tetteh polled 25,664 votes as against 28,867 garnered by George Andah.
Armchair pollster, Ben Ephson, had tipped Hannah Bissiw to win the Tano South Constituency seat but she was crushed by NPP’s Benjamin Yeboah Sekyere with a margin of about 3,800 votes.
So was Deputy Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Mohammed Baba Jamal, who could not survive a second attempt to hold the Akwatia parliamentary seat.
He lost to NPP’s Mercy Ama Sey by polling 15,905 against the latter’s 21,433 of the total valid votes cast, even though Jamal underestimated her chances of winning the seat.
Also on the list of disappointed candidates was Deputy Education Minister, Alex Kyeremeh, who lost his seat in the Techiman North Constituency to NPP’s Martin Oti Gyarko.
Whiles the Deputy Education Minister secured 14,312 votes, representing 44.21%, Mr Oti grabbed 17,252 (53.29%).
Incumbent Member of the Zebilla Constituency, Cletus Avoka, a former Interior Minister and later Majority Leader in Parliament, who was named among the ‘three wise men’ by President Mahama, also lost the seat he has been controlling for many years to 56-year-old medical assistant and businessman, Frank Fuseini Adongo.
Avoka lost with 22,121 votes as against Adongo’s 22,361.
Former beauty queen Benita Sena Okiti Duah could also not hold on to the Ledzokuku seat she had occupied for the past four years, losing it to Dr Bernard Okoe Boye by over 2,167 votes.
Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports and MP for Dormaa West in the Brong-Ahafo Region, Vincent Oppong Asamoah, lost his seat to Ali Halidu, who polled 8,422 votes against Asamoah’s 8,131 votes.
Incumbent MP for Madina-Abokobi, Amadu Sorogho, also succumbed to NPP’s Boniface Abubakar Saddiqe who polled 57.97% of the total votes cast in that constituency as Sorogho garnered 39.88 %.
It makes him the first person to win parliamentary seats in two different constituencies, with the first one being Salaga in the Northern Region (and now Madina-Abokobi).
Incumbent MP for La Dadekotopon, Nii Amasah Namoale, whose analysis has often irritated listeners of Peace FM, also lost his seat after polling 38,504 votes as against former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, Vincent Sowah Odotei – 40,126 votes.
Western Regional Minister, Paul Evans Aidoo, also lost his bid for the Sefwi-Wiawso seat to former Health Minister under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Kwaku Afriyie.
Also on the list are Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Kwabena Minta Akandoh, who lost the Juabuso seat and Sanja Nanja could not hold on to the Atebubu-Amanten seat.
Incumbent MP for Nantong, Murtala Mohammed, fell to Alhaji Hardi Tuferu.
Anthony Abayifaa Karbo defeated former Northern Regional Minister, Bede Ziedeng in the Lawra Constituency.
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