Story by Emmanuel Oti Acheampong
A member of the National Communications Team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mohammed Naziru, has mentioned how important the upcoming Kumawu by-election is to the party and that it will strategically capitalise on the cracks within the NPP in the constituency.
“We can also run away with one of the big cracks in the NPP in that particular constituency. The fact that the deceased’s funeral, party members and executives have been banned from attending, tells you that there is a lot going on in the constituency that, if we work very hard, we can take advantage of it. We will not talk and end without mentioning the independent candidate who is also making a lot of inroads in that constituency,” he said.
The New Patriotic Party, through internal primaries, elected Ernest Yaw Anim to contest the by-election on May 23, 2023, and reacting to the story, Mr. Naziru mentioned that the Kumawu elections is one that the NDC is keen on winning in order to become the majority side in Parliament.
According to him, sources point out that there are internal cracks within the ruling NPP in the Kumawu Constituency, and that has affected even the funeral attendance of the deceased Philip Basoah, a former Member of Parliament. He stressed that the NDC will strategically capitalise on these cracks within the constituency to capture the seat from the NPP.
Mr. Naziru also noted that the presence of an independent candidate who has the backing of some pressure groups and civil society groups in the constituency will also help in reducing the votes of the NPP during the elections, which will automatically make the NDC victors in the by-election. He added that the votes pulled by Duah Kwaku, the independent candidate during the 2020 election, were ones that helped the NDC bridge the gap, and we are hopeful that he will, during the by-election, disperse the votes again to give the NDC an upper hand in the elections.
Duah Kwaku is a former NPP member who contested keenly for the Kumawu seat during the 2020 elections and pulled over 10,000 votes. It is highly expected that he will be contesting independently even though the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, alias Chairman Wontumi, has mentioned that Duah Kwaku has gone to form ally with the NDC.
