Former Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has revived his pursuit of Ghana’s presidency. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) endorsed him to lead it into Ghana’s 2024 election.
Following the conclusion of the NDC primaries on Saturday, certified figures from the Electoral Commission (EC) showed that Mr Mahama received an overwhelming 297,603 votes, or 98.9% of all legitimate ballots cast.
Former Kumasi mayor Kojo Bonsu, who was his opponent, received a pitiful 3,190 votes, or 1.1%. Dr Kwabena Duffour, former Finance Minister under the Mills administration, withdrew as a competitor in the NDC flagbearer competition a day before the election. The 2024 vote will be Mahama’s third attempt at the presidency since his 2012 success.
Incumbent NDC MPs that lost their Seats
Some current Members of Parliament (MPs) lost their re-election bids to some new entrants in just ended parliamentary primary held across the nation in 275 constituencies last Saturday, while others struggled to maintain their candidacy.
About 16 incumbent MPs lost their chances of remaining Members of Parliament in the upcoming 2024 election.
Incumbent MPs who lost their bid remain, heroes,
Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on incumbent Members of Parliament and candidates who lost in the primaries to assist with the party’s campaign ahead of the 2024 election. According to him, the experiences and resources of these individuals will be needed to steer the affairs of the country should the party be voted into power.
He describe the ousted MPs as heroes during the delivery of his acceptance speech at the University for Development Studies, Tamale Campus.
Some surprises that came up in the NDC primaries
Sam George, the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, was re-elected as the party’s candidate for the seat. With 1036 votes, he defeated Michael Kwettey Nettey, his toughest rival, in the fiercely contested parliamentary primary. Mr Kwettey managed 626 of the total votes cast.
Sam George in the 2019 primaries won by a 7 vote difference against Mr Michael Kwettey Nettey. Sam George recorded 407 votes of the total valid votes cast while Mr Kwettey recorded 400 votes.
Mr Kwettey vowed to win this year’s race come what may. According to him, in the last primary, the incumbent MP (Sam George) won by a slim margin because some of his supporters were not allowed to vote. He emphasized that he was optimistic that this year he will be given the nod.
Expectations were that, the contest in 2023 may go in favour of Mr Kwettey or Sam George would win by a small margin. The end result however saw a win margin of 410 votes in favour of Sam George.
The son of Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the NDC flagbearer candidate, was unsuccessful in his effort to represent the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as a parliamentary candidate in the Sekyere Afram Plains Constituency in the Eastern Region. Duffuor Jr. was defeated by Hajia Nasira Afrah in the primary by a margin of 8 votes. Dr Duffour Jr. received 203 votes, while Nasira Afrah received 211 votes to win. Meanwhile, the incumbent Member of Parliament, Dr Alex Adomako Mensah, polled only 86 votes.
Following his father’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race after a botched injunction suit against the primaries, some had said Duffuor Jnr. paid the price for his father’s conduct.
The case in Ketu North Constituency
Parliamentary aspirant, John Adanu has questioned the decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to declare Edem Agbana the winner of the Ketu North parliamentary primary. He wondered why the Council after identifying three unstamped ballots declared them as valid, on the premise that they had corresponding serial numbers with that of the booklet provided.
Addressing the press, Mr Adanu entreated the party’s hierarchy to take a critical look at the NDC’s constitution and guidelines for internal elections.
After three rounds of counting, both aspirants polled 358 votes, after the Electoral Commission officials identified three unstamped ballots, two in favour of Edem Agbana, and one in favour of John Adanu.
However, Mr Agbana insisted that he won the primary with 360 votes against his opponent’s 359 votes, though the EC had declared a runoff.
The General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey at a press briefing said, after investigations by the national executive, it was detected that there was no overvoting.
And that the ballot papers said to have been detected not to have been validated with stamps at the back had serial numbers that came from the booklet which was issued for the polling centre.
On that basis, the national executive has concluded that the people’s choice must be respected and that Edem Agbana would represent the NDC in the 2024 Parliamentary election in Ketu North.
Mr Adanu found this decision unfortunate and unfair to his candidacy and supporters.
He, however, affirmed his continuous support for the growth of the NDC in the constituency and the ultimate goal of winning power in 2024.
We can depend on the police for the 2024 election.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has praised the Ghana Police Service for its professionalism during the party’s primaries.
We can rely on your professionalism as we approach the next elections, NDC National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah stated after appearing to be pleased with how the police handled security during the party’s internal polls.
He congratulated the Ghana Police Service for acting with the utmost integrity, professionalism, and sense of responsibility throughout the primaries.
He indicated that the orderly electoral process did not record any security breaches and that the police were effective in carrying out their duties during the primaries.
Eight (8) people have been detained by the police around the nation for different election-related offences and for causing a disturbance during the NDC’s Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries on Saturday, April 13, 2023. Yaro Burdove, Harrison Martey, Imoro Ibrahim, Arkoli Mensah, Nyarko Richard, Prince Lomotey, Hamidu Dramani, and Bejando Emmanuel were among the suspects detained at several polling places in four different constituencies throughout the nation
Analysis: The Duffour Factor, Is he necessary for Ashanti Region?
Dr. Kwabena Duffour pulled out from the National Democratic Congress presidential primary on the eve of the elections on Friday.
He explained that his decision was based on his grievances with the processes surrounding the party’s preparation for the elections, especially the voters register.
Let’s see how this affected the election.
The Ashanti Region is considered the stronghold of Dr Kwabena Duffour. The region is where Dr Duffour is said to have the majority of his supporters.
Dr Duffour’s votes were counted as rejected in the just-ended presidential primaries because he pooled out. The entire rejected votes stood at a whopping 4,662 votes.
On the regional breakdown, the Ashanti region recorded the majority of rejected votes of 999 votes.
Looking at the voter turnout, the primaries recorded an 86.56% turnout representing 307,371 delegates out of the total 355,092 delegates. This shows that an alarming 47,721 delegates DID NOT VOTE. This number represents 13.44% of the total delegates
The regional breakdown of those who did not vote establishes the point being made.
The Ashanti region had the majority of the delegates who did not vote. The region had
23,347 representing 48.9% of delegates who did not vote. Greater Accra, the region with the highest number of delegates (69,415) had only 9,261 delegates not voting.
With all the important points on the ground, we see that the Duffour factor is important
for the NDC come 2024. For the NDC to thrive come 2024 in the Ashanti region,
they will need all hands on deck, and Dr Duffour could be a powerful hand to hold on
to. Bear in mind that this is only the delegates, what we can say about the entire pool.
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