Story: Benjamin Makafui Attipoe, Ho
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has won a landslide victory in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential Aspirants Super Delegates Conference, which took place across the country on Saturday, August 26, 2023.
In the Volta Region’s event held at the Catholic Secretariat premises at Ho, Dr. Bawumia polled twenty-nine (29) out of the forty-one (41) votes cast.
He was followed by Hon. Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng and Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong who bagged four (4) votes each with Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, receiving three (3) votes in the special voting. Mr. Addai Nimo also bagged one (1) vote with the remaining aspirants, Hon. Joe Ghartey, Hon. Kwadwo Poku, Dr. Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apreku as well as Hon. Boakye Agyarko trailing with zero (0) each.
The exercise happened between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and saw a heavy police presence within and outside the Secretariat premises to ensure a peaceful and incident-free poll.
The Special Electoral College activity saw forty-one (41) delegates voting in the exercise, with the breakdown being eighteen (18) constituency chairmen, seventeen (17) regional executives, two (2) ministers of state, two (2) council of state members as well as two (2) founding members.
They were made up of party gurus such as the Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa, Railway Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe, Hon. John Peter Amewu, Regional Chairman of the party, Hon. Makafui Kofi Woanyah, former Regional Chairman and Deputy Minister for Labour and Employment, Hon. Kenwood Nuworsu as well as the Volta Regional representative on the Council of State, Hon. Francis Nyonyo.
The Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa was the first to cast his vote around 9.50 am when the polls opened. The Ketu North Chairman of the party, Mr. C. K. Dunyo was carried to the voting venue in a wheelchair to cast his vote. He was ably assisted by the former Regional Minister and Managing Director of the Bui Power Plant, Hon. Samuel Kofi Dzamesi.
The voting exercise was under the joint auspices of the Ho Municipal Office of the Electoral Commission (EC) as well as the Regional Directorate of the Commission, respectively represented by Nana Oduro Numapau as well as Mr. Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, who later announced the results to the audience including the media at the end of the exercise.
The declaration of the results which saw the Vice President winning with a landslide victory, sparked off wild jubilations among supporters of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and most of the executives.
The Regional Chairman of the party, Hon. Makafui Kofi Woanyah described the victory of the Vice President as a victory for the party, adding that the die is now cast for the November polls. He was grateful to all and sundry particularly the rank and file of the NPP in the region for their contribution towards the success of the special voting exercise.
Earlier in an interview with our news team, the Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa, the Regional Chairman, Hon. Makafui Kofi Woanyah, and the Ho Municipal Director of the EC, Nana Oduro Numapau were hopeful that the exercise was going to be peaceful, fair and orderly.
Former MP for Tema West and Managing Director for the Volta Aluminum Company Limited (VALCO), Hon. Nii Titus Tagoe Glover lauded the security arrangement deployed at the Centre though their presence, he noted outnumbered the forty-one (41) delegates who were supposed to cast their votes at the venue.
He disclosed that he is a supporter of the Vice President, adding that his reasons for such a position stemmed from the fact that Dr. Bawumia is the only candidate among the ten (10) presidential aspirants who can match and beat the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), H.E. John Dramani Mahama.
According to him, the Vice President has sacrificed for the NPP, citing his role in the 2016 election petition court case, for instance, describing him as a phenomenal and exemplary leader.
The election was also characterised by the sale of some party paraphernalia to some of the delegates and party supporters at the event venue.
