One of the toughest parliamentary battles in the December 7, 2016 general election will take place in the Akwatia Constituency in the Eastern Region, between the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr Mohammed Ahmed Baba Jamal, and his challenger, Madam Ama Sey, a professional hairdresser.
Both parliamentary candidates are confident of defeating each other considering the massive support they enjoy in the area.
Both candidates
Both Mr Baba Jamal, who is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, and Madam Ama Sey, the candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), were born and bred at Akwatia and have spent much of their lives in the diamond town.
Mr Baba Jamal won the parliamentary seat for the first time on December 7, 2012 after losing three previous elections to NPP candidates while Madam Ama Sey is a new entrant in the parliamentary race.
Mr Kwasi Agyei, who was a popular Akwatia-based diamond dealer, was elected unopposed in 1992 as the Akwatia MP for the first time in the Fourth Republic on the ticket of the NDC after the NPP had boycotted the parliamentary election.
In 1996, the NDC replaced Mr Kwasi Agyei with Mr Mohammed Erzuah, who defeated the NPP parliamentary candidate, Dr Agyare Blay, to become the legislator for Akwatia. President Jerry John Rawlings also won the presidential election that year.
In the 2000 parliamentary election, the NPP elected Mr Kingston Akomeng Kissi, the current Eastern Regional Chairman of the NPP, as the parliamentary candidate, who defeated the NDC candidate, Mr Baba Jamal, to win the seat for the NPP for the first time. Former President J.A. Kufuor also won the presidential election in the constituency that very year by defeating, the NDC candidate, the late President John Evans Atta Mills.
Mr Akomeng Kissi again defeated Baba Jamal in the 2004 parliamentary election to represent his constituents in Parliament.
Former President Kufuor also won the presidential election in the constituency.
In 2008, the NPP replaced its parliamentary candidate, Mr Akomeng Kissi, with Dr Kofi Asare, a former Brong Ahafo/Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, who also defeated Mr Baba Jamal in a controversial parliamentary election at that year the election, in six polling stations had to be re-run after some miscreants had destroyed the ballots.
After losing
After losing three parliamentary elections, Mr Baba Jamal learnt his lesson and marshalled all forces to beat Dr Kofi Asare in the 2012 parliamentary election by 20,471 to 19,914 to achieve his lifelong ambition of becoming a parliamentarian.
When this writer contacted Mr Baba Jamal, who is currently the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, on his chances in the upcoming parliamentary election, he promised to chalk up a resounding victory over Madam Ama Sey as she was no match for him.
He said the popularity of President John Dramani Mahama, coupled with the numerous development projects he and the NDC government had provided in the constituency would convince the electorate to retain him as the parliamentarian and President Mahama in government.
According to him, the constituents have vowed to retain him in Parliament because he is articulate, and can champion their cause in Parliament to bring the desired development to the area.
Launching his campaign at Akwatia recently, Mr Baba Jamal stressed that his victory in the election was a forgone conclusion, since the electorate would not vote for Madam Ama Sey, who would not make any impact in Parliament.
The Eastern Regional Chairman of the NDC, Mr Bismarck Tawiah Boateng, enjoined the electorate to vote massively for Mr Baba Jamal in order to continue to benefit from more development projects.
Launching her campaign earlier at Akwatia, Madam Ama Sey expressed optimism of unseating Mr Baba Jamal, come December 7, 2016.
She said Mr Baba Jamal had disappointed the constituents because he had failed to fulfil his campaign promise of rehabilitating the deplorable Akwatia town roads.
According to her, most of Mr Baba Jamal’s stalwarts, who campaigned for his electoral victory in 2012, had parted ways with him, accusing him of being incompetent and very unpopular in the area.
Among the NPP leading members who spoke at the campaign launch were Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Mr Sammy Awuku, Mr Yaw Adomako-Baafi, Mr.Akomeng Kissi and Alhaji Umar Bodinga, the Eastern Region Vice Chairman of the NPP, all of who impressed upon the electorate to vote massively for Madam Ama Sey.
<<Print>>