There were tense moments, surprises and upsets in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency elections that took place at the weekend across the country.
The election were billed to have taken place in 276 constituencies, including the Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe and Lolobi (SALL) areas which has no representation in Parliament but were withheld in 24 constituencies.
Injunctions were also placed on the Suame and Amenfi East constituencies in the Ashanti and Western regions over discrepancies in the album.
The 24 constituencies where elections did not take place were in the Eastern, Central, Volta, Upper West and Greater Accra regions.
No show/ tense moment
In addition, there was no election in the New Juaben South constituency in the Easter Region although the venue for the election was ready.
It had to be rescheduled to a date yet-to-be announced.
There were tense moments in some of the voting centres because of late arrival of ballot papers and inconsistencies in the voting list, and they included Adenta, Ho Central, Chiana-Paga, Navrongo Central, Talensi, Binduri and Bongo constituencies.
The elections also recorded some surprises and upsets in some of the constituencies.
Notable among them were the Asawase Constituency where the constituency chairman, Musah Abubakar, was unseated by one of the dark horses, Faisal Dauda.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, whose candidate, the incumbent, lost the chairmanship position, was booed by a section of the supporters of the party at the venue.
The MP who is also the Minority Chief Whip had to be escorted by security on duty.
Faisal won by 946 votes as against the incumbent, Abubakar, who polled 775 votes.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, whose candidate, the incumbent, lost the chairmanship position, was booed by a section of the supporters of the party at the venue. https://t.co/cl3VqHEa9Y pic.twitter.com/3BmEJurqWN
— GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) October 24, 2022
Upsets
There was also a dramatic come back in Wenchi in the Bono Region where a former chairman, Mohammed Asomah, staged a comeback to defeat the incumbent, Sina Sheihu Wahab.
There was a similar upset in the Ablekuma South Constituency in the Greater Accra Region where there was a complete overhaul of the old faces.
From the Bono Region, Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Biiya Mukusah report that the newly-elected chairman, Asomah, a timber merchant, who was the chairman of the constituency between the period 2010 and 2014, obtained 657 votes to defeat the incumbent, Wahab, who had 509 votes in the keenly contested election.
The incumbent youth organiser, Nana Kwame Atuahene, was elevated to the position of the vice-chairman while Suleman Al-Hassan and Uthman Yakubu Bamba retained their positions as secretary and deputy constituency secretary respectively.
The elections in the Bono Region went on successfully in 11 out of the 12 constituencies last Saturday.
The constituencies are Sunyani East, Sunyani West, Tain, Wenchi, Dormaa East, Dormaa West, Dormaa Central, Jaman North, Jaman South, Berekum East, Berekum West and Banda.
Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu reports from the Western Region that 16 out of the 17 constituencies held their elections smoothly last Saturday.
A total of 391 positions were up for grabs, contested by 830 candidates.
They included the chairmanship, the vice-chairman, constituency secretary and the deputy.
Most of the incumbent executive members were retained except in the Shama, Jomoro, Tarkwa Nsuaem and Mpohor constituencies.
Credible Album
In the Upper East Region, 10 constituencies out of 15 successfully conducted their elections, reports Gilbert Mawuli Agbey.
In the other five remaining constituencies elections were only held for the positions of the women and youth organisers because delegates had contested the credibility of the album.
A date is yet to be fixed to rectify the album for the rest of the positions to be contested for.
The five constituencies are Chiana-Paga, Navrongo Central, Talensi, Binduri and Bongo constituencies respectively.
The 10 which successfully elected their constituency executives were Bolgatanga East, Bolgatanga Central, Bawku Central, Zebilla and Garu constituencies.
The rest were Tempane, Pusiga, Builsa North, Builsa South and Nabdam constituencies.
Apart from the discrepancies in the delegates list and the late arrival of ballot papers as well as voting time, voting was generally peaceful.
Due to the cumbersome nature of the voting process vis-a-vis the total number of delegates, almost all the constituency elections were completed on Sunday.
Speaking to Graphic Online, the Regional NDC Director of Elections, Donatus Nyaaba, said a new date would be set for the remaining constituencies to hold their elections.
Results
In the Garu Constituency, Thomas Martey Laari was elected chairman with 377 votes as against 276 votes polled by Abaare Abugba John.
In the Secretary position, Akasire James had 387 votes to defeat Isaaka Amoli who got 265 votes.
In the Bawku Central Constituency, Ndego Mohammed Awindago secured 667 votes to be elected Constituency Chairman.
He beat three others, Messrs Alhaji Moro Alhassan, Ndunia Tahiruand Adamu Salaam Atuak who had 370, 132, and 25 votes respectively.
For the position of secretary, Osman Abugrago was elected with 786 votes as against 370 polled by Karim Amadu, the only challenger.
From Ho, Alberto Mario Noretti reports that the incumbent chairman of the Ho Central Constituency, Franklin Kofi Gedzia, retained his position in last Saturday’s election.
He polled 1,347 votes to beat highly tipped Gershon Adeklo who received 647 votes from the delegates.
In all, 2,223 delegates from the 247 branches turned up at the venue as early as 6am for the elections.
A total of 58 candidates from the branches contested 10 executive positions.
There was a stand-off as a result of the absence of the names of delegates from the Ahoe Market Square B, H, and OLA Branch C, Ho Kpodzi E.P JHSA, Branch G from the electoral album (register).
The stand-off, however, subsided for voting to commence at 10a.m. on a smooth note.
Vincent Amenuveve and Augustina Tawiah report that delegates in the Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro Constituency retained Bright N.A. D-Modzaka as chairman of the constituency.
After a keenly contested elections last Saturday, Modzaka polled 1,150votes to beat Peter Nana Asiedu who got 292 votes.
Agbo Tetteh Shaibu grabbed the vice-chairman position with 1,094votes to defeat Eric Sosu who got 279votes.Dan Bright Abayateye was elected secretary as he polled 968 votes to beat the incumbent, Sam Ampiah, who got 462 votes.
