Scores of Delegates and Coordinators of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Asante Akyem South Constituency in the Ashanti Region have rejected claims that they moved into the camp of incumbent MP, lawyer Kwaku Asante Boateng who is also Deputy Railway Minister.
This follows a press conference organized by the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Kwaku Asante-Boateng, on the claims that the Coordinators of his closest contender, Bice Osei-Kuffour aka Obour had defected to his camp.
The race for the parliamentary ticket of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) gets heated as the incumbent MP Asante-Boateng, gets gripped with fear of losing the parliamentary slot towards the 2024 general election.
Reacting to the incumbent MP, the Coordinators, refuted the MP’s claims and emphasized none of the current campaign coordinators of the Obour camp have defected to the incumbent MP’s camp as alleged.
According to the Convener of the AAS Delegates for Obour, Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong, described that allegation that some zonal campaign coordinators in the camp of Obour had defected to the campaign team of the incumbent MP as false, and said it was an attempt by the Incumbent MP to deceive delegates.
Explaining the issue at the press conference, Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong noted he remembered the MP inviting all the delegates for a meeting and intentionally used the platform to hype himself in the media that they had declared their 100 per cent support to him against his contender.
However , he said that did not work and he believed that Obour, who lost the NPP primary in 2020 by 58 votes to the incumbent MP, is the new face for the constituency and has been fully endorsed by the Chiefs, Clergy, and constituents to oust the Incumbent MP.
In a statement, Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong, the convener for AAS Delegates For Obour noted that Obour is committed to the NPP’s agenda of ‘breaking the 8’, which means winning a third consecutive term in power in 2024.
He explained that Bice Osei-Kuffour, aka Obour, has for the past years undertaken massive developmental projects for the constituency. These include facilitating 300 Youths to get enrolled in the Youth for Afforestation program, and Telephone Network Mast for Muronaim and Amantia community.
Others include the recruitment of about 30 Young persons in Immigration, Military, Prisons and Police Service, Ghana Post, Provision of Tertiary Scholarships for 20 Students, Foreign scholarships for 3 students from Asante Akyem South, Provision of Sanitation materials and Boreholes / Poly Tanks for several communities in Asante Akyem South and Provision of Skills Development and Training for over 50 young persons in the Constituency.
He further explained that the mantle as the parliamentary candidate could potentially increase the party’s vote by an additional 10,000, benefitting both the presidential and parliamentary candidates, adding that the decline in NPP votes since 2012, pointing out that while the NPP added a mere 690 votes over 4 years, the NDC significantly increased its votes by about 6,000 in the same timeframe.
“In 2020, NPP’s parliamentary vote increased from 32,526 to 33,200, adding only 690 votes over four years. Meanwhile, the NDC went from 15,000 to 21,639 votes for the parliamentary candidate during the same period,” Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong explained.
Oheneba Kwabena Agyapong expressing concern about the NPP losing ground in what has traditionally been an NPP stronghold with the current MP, urged party leaders to take note of the declining numbers in Asante Akyem South and further called upon delegates to carefully consider their decision in voting.
He further emphasized the importance of electing a candidate capable of increasing the party’s votes and fostering development in the constituency by electing Obour who is a unifier as a new face to increase the votes for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
