By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
A Private Legal Practitioner, Nana Agyei Baffuor Awuah, has been elected to replace the outgoing Member of Parliament for Manhyia South Constituency in the Ashanti region.
Nana Baffuor Awuah polled 376 of the total votes cast to beat three others to emerge as the winner in the internal elections.
A total of 568 delegates were expected to vote in the constituency internal elections held on Sunday, July 14, 2024.
The primaries was supervised by a team of Electoral Commission officials led by the new Ashanti Regional Director, Osei Mensah. Eventually, 526 of the expected delegates turned out to cast their votes with no rejected ballot. It turned out to be a straight contest between the biological brother of the incumbent MP, Nana Owusu Afriyie Prempeh, and the legal Counsel for the MP, Nana Agyei Baffuor Awuah, with two others in the shadow.
Announcing the results, the Manhyia District Electoral Officer of the EC, Joseph Adu Yeboah, declared a total turnout of 92 point-four percent, with Nana Agyei Baffuor Awuah having 376 of the votes cast.
“At the end of the election, Nana Owusu Afriyie Prempeh got 141 votes; Nana Agyei Baffuor Awuah has 376; Coker Gyembibi, 2; and James Owusu Boakye, 7,” he declared.
There was an exchange of pleasantries among the four contenders even after the official declaration of the poll results, with the losers congratulating and commending the victor, Nana Baffuor Awuah, for his hard fought victory, pledging their support and cooperation with him in the interest of the NPP.
In his remarks, Nana Baffuor Awuah thanked the delegates for reposing trust and confidence in him and pledged to help the NPP retain power after the December 7 presidential and Parliamentary elections.
He also thanked his contenders for the clean contest. In separate interviews, a member of the Elections Committee that organised the primaries, Madam Patricia Appiagyei, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the candidates and the entire exercise.
On his part, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, repeated his estimation that the NPP will win at least 85 percent of the total valid votes to be cast in the presidential election in the region in December and that, the Manhyia South Constituency primary is a precursor.
The election was held under a very tight security arrangement with a high level of comportment and discipline among the candidates, their supporters, and delegates, giving the security personnel little work to do.
The polls became necessary because the incumbent Member of Parliament, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who was re-elected at the Constituency’s previous primaries held in February this year, will be stepping down from Parliamentary politics at the end of the current Parliament in January next year.
This decision has been influenced by his selection as the running mate to the NPP’s Flagbearer for the December 7 Presidential polls.
