Politics of Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Source: kasapafmonline.com

K.T Hammond not likely to retain seat in Nov polls – Ephson

Adansi Asokwa MP, K.T HammondAdansi Asokwa MP, K.T Hammond

Pollster, Ben Ephson has predicted a defeat for incumbent Member of Parliament for the Adansi Asokwa constituency in the upcoming 2016 elections.

For him, the situation could only be varied if K.T Hammond resolves the conflict between him and his main contender prevailing after the party’s controversial primary in the enclave.

“K.T Hammond has damned his contender who has declared his intention to go Independent, and that could easily frustrate K.T’s bid in retaining the seat,” Ephson told Fiifi Banson on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM.

He believes it is critical for K.T Hammond to patch up and resolve every differences between him, and his opponent lest he would be toppled come November 7, 2016 as his opponent is warming up to file as an Independent candidate soon in the area.

“If the guy goes to file as an independent candidate as he’s threatened to do K.T Hammond will be history. He must be fast about it to woo him before he finally goes to file because the Independent candidate is formidable,” Ephson cautioned the Adansi Asokwa lawmaker.

This he claimed is based on a research he’d conducted in the two major parties[NDC,NPP] strongholds where there were fierce competition and the sheer apathy that comes after such events.

“We pick constituencies that are facing some problems and then we do an in-depth analysis in that constituency just to find out the levels of apathy. We know for certain that K.T is in trouble if he doesn’t go to beg the guy for the issues that happened,” he noted.

The only opponent who filed to contest Hammond in the race for the NPP ticket for the Adansi Asokwa constituency, Richard Oduro Anokye, was accused by the party leadership of filing “forged” documents as part of his party and academic credentials, a situation that finally saw his exit from the primary.

His supporters protested claiming it was a fraudulent and a guerilla tactic adopted by the party in disqualifying Hammonds’ challenger.

The two have been at loggerheads after K.T was declared unopposed in the primary. Anokye has also announced his decision to contest the seat as an independent candidate in the 2016 parliamentary elections.