The battle for supremacy in the Awutu Senya East Constituency between the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) continues to be a topic of discussion among the voting community in Kasoa and its surrounding communities.
Although election 2020 is 17 months away, the voting community within the constituency is still showing signs of indecision as to who they might go for as their next Member of Parliament (MP).
When the Daily Graphic decided to sample views of the voting communities within the area, it appeared that the contest between the two parties — the NPP and the NDC — might be one that could go either way.
A number of people interviewed said the outcome of the elections would be decided by the candidates each of the party might present.
The current MP for the Awutu Senya East Constituency, Ms Mavis Hawa Koomson, has won for the NPP in the last two elections but as to whether she could do it for the third time is a matter to be known in weeks when the NPP decides to open its parliamentary nominations.
Dominance
In the past seven elections held, the NDC has managed to win four with the remaining three taken by the NPP.
From 1992 to 2000, the NDC won all the three elections with the exception of 2004 elections when the NPP broke that jinx and won the election.
Unfortunately for the NPP, the NDC came out strong in elections 2008 and won it back to make their winning streak four.
However, the dominance of the NDC was cut short when NPP in 2012 and 2016 elections wrested the seat from the NDC with the current MP, Ms Koomson, winning it for the party.
Voting gap
Those two elections saw the voting gap increased to the advantage of the NPP.
Ms Koomson, in the 2012 elections won the seat with 31,054 votes representing 52 per cent out of the total 59,150. The NDC candidate, Adam Nuhu Timbile, pulled 26,884 representing 45 per cent.
In election 2016, the NPP, with same candidate extended the gap when Ms Koomson who won with 34,656 votes representing 58 per cent out of the total 59,646 votes.
The NDC, with the same candidate, Mr Timbile, had his vote reduced when he pulled 24,373 representing 40 per cent of the total votes cast.
Judging by the last two elections, it shows that the NPP is gradually turning the Awutu Senya East constituency into one of its growing strongholds.
However, in elections one might not know the thoughts of the voting community until the elections are over. The question many people are asking is NPP going for treble in the constituency or the NDC staging a comeback?”.
Community
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, some of the voting population in Awutu Senya East Constituency said they would vote based on a number of factors, particularly the current nature of the Kasoa town and its surrounding areas.
“I have always voted based on the performance of the MP and not the party necessarily but with what I see happening in Kasoa, I think the NPP has a chance to go treble,” said Mr Nathaniel Bawuah, a resident of Kasoa.
Another resident, Mr Eric Gyasi, said the NDC would win if the party decided to field a candidate the voting community in Kasoa already knew.
In his opinion, introducing a new face might affect the vote of the party, particularly when the person would be contesting against a known person like the incumbent MP.
“However, one cannot tell what might happen in elections these days,” he added.
A man considered as one of the elders of Kasoa, Opanyin Twumasi, said elections in the Awutu Senya East Constituency had always been tough but the NPP “is gaining huge grounds in Kasoa”.
“I have been residing in Kasoa for the past 20 years and I can tell you that most of the people cannot wait for election 2020 to vote,” he said.
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