Polling Station Executives of the Tema West New Patriotic Party (NPP) have laughed off the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana (UG) report that the Tema West MP, Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, is likely to lose in 2020.

Speaking at a news conference in Accra, the Executives dismissed the polls saying it was not authentic, as factors on the ground do not place Mr Ahenkorah in the same bracket as the 49.5 per cent of MPs whom the polls claim will lose their seats.

“The first question we wish to ask the University of Ghana is who and who did they speak to on the ground in Tema West to come to the conclusion that our incumbent MP will not be voted for?

“The second one is, the hundred people that they spoke to, did they take time to assess to see if they are constituents of Tema West or they are just visitors who came by and went away?

“Are they sure that they got the name of Carlos Ahenkorah right, or have they mixed up his name with someone else?” Bernard Anokye, the NPP’s Polling Station Chairman for the Kasadjan Electoral Area shot from the high table.

According to him, the conclusion of the report was so far from the truth that they wondered if the University of Ghana, which claimed to have done the survey in collaboration with Conrad Adenauer Foundation really went on the ground to speak to people or did “an armchair survey.”

He pointed out that Tema West was a traditional stronghold of the NPP, with the party’s main opponent not having any Parliamentary Candidate yet for that Constituency.

Interestingly, the same University of Ghana had some few months ago done a poll and concluded that President Akufo-Addo would win Tema West as part of victory against the NDC’s former President Mahama in 2020.

“How all of a sudden, Tema West, which has been the NPP’s traditional stronghold would want to vote skirt and blouse for the first time at a time that both the President and the MP are performing well in office, is a bit too difficult to swallow,” Mr. Bernard Anokye said.

He said the illogicality of the supposed survey by the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana made the NPP in Tema West suspicious that the poll was fraught with mistakes.

Last week, the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana published survey findings in which it said 49.5 per cent of all eligible voters had indicated that they would vote out their MPs in 2020.

Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah was listed as one of the MPs.

Paapa Essien, the leader of all Electoral Area Coordinators in the Constituency, pointed out that the Tema West MP has been performing to the admiration of his constituents.

“When the polls were announced, people started calling and asking us, ‘who did the University of Ghana talk to?; and I said, I don’t know!

“This is the MP who is with constituents all the time listening to their problems. He has lobbied for jobs for many constituents; he has partnered our MCE and the assembly, to invest in school infrastructure. Every year, he buys examination accoutrements for BECE and SSCE Candidates, how could we want to vote out such a resourceful MP?” he asked.

He added his own suspicion to that of Mr. Bernard Anokye, saying the poll may have been skewed.

Paapa Essien pointed out that Carlos Ahenkorah, in 2016, won the seat with over 15,000 votes, one of the highest for any elected MP.

“How in just two years, these supporters in the NPP’s stronghold would want to vote him out just does not make sense,” he said.

“We’ll re-elect President Akufo-Addo and Mr. Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah to shame detractors” Mr. Anokye added.