General News of Monday, 12 October 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

NPP takes steps to replace murdered MP Ekow Kwansah Hayford in the next 10 days

Ekow Kwansah Hayford was killed by armed robbers Ekow Kwansah Hayford was killed by armed robbers

The New Patriotic Party is taking steps to find a replacement for murdered Mfantseman MP, Ekow Kwansah Hayford, ahead of the December 7 general elections.

Ekow Kwansah Hayford who was seeking re-election to represent the Mfantseman in Parliament was killed in an armed robbery attack on Friday dawn.

The NPP must now find a replacement for the slain MP to meet the 10-day deadline specified in law.

The late Ekow Kwansah Hayford filed his nomination forms on Thursday, October 8, 2020, and died on October 9, 2020, the same day the Electoral Commission closed the filing of nomination forms.

Mfantseman constituency Chairman of the NPP, Yaw Berchie-Nuako, disclosed that party executives would meet in the week to decide on the replacement to be approved.

Berchie-Nuako noted that the next candidate must be able to march the qualities of the former MP.

He was confident that the party would not impose any candidate on the constituency but rather seek the interest of the people.

"The constituency executives here are on the grounds and so we know who can win the seat for us," Yaw Berchie-Nuako told Daily Graphic.

He added, "Our late MP was a good man who did a lot of work. His four-year work as MP is far more than the NDC's work in 8 years. We are not going to rely on sympathy votes. The works of Kwansah Hayford speak everywhere and we are optimistic that the NPP will retain the seat,"

The NPP’s Mfantseman Chairman went on to say, "I was with him when the incident happened and I have still not recovered from it. It has hit us hard but we are praying and know it will make us even stronger."

Following the death of the MP, many of the Mfantseman town folks asked for a relative from the Hayford family to act as a replacement in the elections.

It was earlier reported that the party had already decided on the replacement of the slain MP, but an official statement from the NPP debunked those assertions.