NDC Holds Primaries In Northern Sector

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) will hold primaries to elect candidates for the various orphaned constituencies in the northern sector of the country Saturday. But the election of candidates for Builsa South, Welensi, Lawra -Nandom and Wa East are on hold according to the Deputy General Secretary of the party, Mr George Lawson. The northern sector is made up of the Upper West, Upper East, Northern, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions. Orphaned constituencies are parliamentary seats that are not occupied by NDC Members of Parliament (MPs). The contest for the southern sector will take place on November 26, 2011. These elections to be held at various constituencies would be supervised by the assigned national executive members, with some ministers of state and other leading members of the party acting as observers. It is expected that some of the primaries in the northern sector would generate some interest. In the Jaman South Constituency, for instance, Mr Boakye Djan will contest Mr Matthew Gyasi and in Sunyani, the Regional Minister will vie for the ticket with two others. A Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr Hannah Luisa Bissiw, is contesting for the Tano South slot and the Minister of the Interior, Dr Benjamin Kumbuor, is also contesting for the Lawra/Nandom slot while the Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng Adjei, is vying unopposed. Other interesting contests would be held in Bawku Central where a Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Mahama Ayariga, would be seeking to enter Parliament for the second time on the ticket of the NDC and the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, would be vying for the Navrongo Central slot. Originally, 151 people submitted forms to contest for the 42 slots, but according to the party, more that 10 aspirants have been disqualified from various constituencies for some reasons. The regional breakdown of the number of aspirants are as follows: Northern, 16; Upper East, 15; Upper West,13; Brong Ahafo, 37 and Ashanti Region, 80. Two hundred and ninety-seven members of the party applied to vie for 114 parliamentary slots in the country. These are the seats which the party did not win in 2008. Currently, the NDC has 116 seats in the 230-member Parliament. The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has 107, People�s National Convention (PNC) has two, Convention People�s Party (CPP) has one and four members are independent.