|
Listen To Story
|
Party executives and delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ghana’s largest constituency, Dome-Kwabenya, have given an overwhelming endorsement to their incumbent Constituency leaders in the just ended conference. After the close of polls on Saturday, October 22, the Constituency Chairman, Secretary, Organizer and Communications Officers among others, retained their positions in what was a fiercely contested elections in a relatively calm and peaceful atmosphere.
With 2,685 out of the over 3,200 expected delegates, representing some 84% turnout, the constituency conference which drew hundreds of party loyalists, national and regional officials saw the incumbent Chairman, Mr. Isaac Nii Lante Lamptey retained. The spirited party chairman who was clad in an all-white at the voting centre at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) Park was in a cosy mood as he was declared winner in the five-man race. Comrade Thomas Dodzi Tsoekeku, who is regarded by many party members as indispensable to the NDC’s operations in the Constituency, also secured a comfortable victory to hold on to his position as the secretary. The incumbent constituency Organiser, Mr. Edem Agbenyefia also saw off competitions from two other contestants to keep his position, together with his deputy. The Communications Officer and his deputy as well as the Zango caucus coordinator were some other incumbents who were overwhelming retained in Saturday’s conference. The women’s organizer however lost her second term bid to a former women’s organizer, Hajia Samiratu Sullemana Saabey while Alhaji M. Kara was voted as the Youth organizer, from his previous position as the deputy Youth organizer.
The stakes were high in the Saturday’s conference as the former Parliamentary Candidate (PC), Mrs. Elikplim Akurugu was seen campaigning for her group of preferred candidates in various Branches and party meetings. The former PC’s open involvement raised the stakes in an already tensed political environment when she set out to campaign against the incumbent executives, and called on Branch Executives to endorse her list of aspirants. The move by Madam Elikplim to publicly endorse and resource a group of aspirants against the incumbents received sharp condemnation from some party loyalists while others insist she is at liberty to do so just as all Branch executives are entitled to throw their support to candidates of their choice.
The Dome-Kwabenya Constituency was one of the twenty- eight (28) constituencies out of the thirty- four (34) in the Greater Accra region that organized their conference on Saturday after the party rescinded their earlier directive to hold separate elections on both Saturday and Sunday for the Women/Youth wings and other Executive positions respectively. Late deliveries of electoral materials and inadequate preparations in the remaining six constituencies caused a postponement of the activities.
Mr. Thomas Ashong, the regional youth organizer, led the NDC regional delegation to oversee the exercise. There was noticable police presence which ensured peace and order among the enthusiastic party faithfuls. The newly elected Constituency Executives were sworn into office after the official declaration by the Presiding officer.
Meanwhile, hundreds of party supporters who stayed deep into the night took to the streets to celebrate the retention of the Constituency Executives as at 01:30. They described the current crop of party Executives as the most hardworking and competent leaders the NDC has had since the creation of the Constituency in 2004, as manifested in the 2020 electoral results which saw the party garner some 23,000 out of the 35,000 newly registered voters in a constituency dominated by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Leave a Reply