Politics of Monday, 9 December 2024

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Parliament Tsunami: The NPP big names who survived the ‘holocaust’

The Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana

A massive ‘tsunami’ has hit the Parliament of Ghana as the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is reported to have lost more than 70 of the 137 seats it held in the 8th Parliament.

With about 221 out of the 276 constituency results compiled so far, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), which has 137 seats in the 8th Parliament, so far has about 162 seats.

The NPP so far has 59 seats, while three seats have been won by independent candidates.

The NPP even lost seats in its ‘World Bank’, the Ashanti Region, with the opposition National Democratic Congress snatching at least 20 seats it has never held since 1996.

The outcome of the 2024 parliamentary elections appears to be punishment for appointees of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government and the NPP, as a lot of ministers, deputy ministers, and other party bigwigs lost their seats.

Some ministers and leading party members, however, ‘escaped’ the wind of change, retaining or winning their parliamentary elections to book their seats in the 9th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana.

Here are the top NPP members who survived the tsunami:

Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin:


The Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, who faced a stiff challenge from NDC’s James Kofi Annan, won his re-election bid.

He won the parliamentary election with nearly 20,000 votes.

Afenyo-Markin, who is the Majority Leader of the current Parliament, got 39,504 of the total votes, while Kofi Annan got 19,783 votes.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah:


The Minister for Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, won his bid to retain the Ofoase/Ayirebi parliamentary seat.

Oppong Nkrumah, who has represented the constituency since 2016 and previously served as Minister for Information, got 18,601 votes.

His closest challenger, Alfred Osei-Poku of the National Democratic Congress, garnered 13,415 of the total votes cast.

Dominic Nitiwul:


The Minister of Defence and Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, Dominic Nitiwul, also won his re-election bid by a very slim margin.

Dominic Nitiwul won the Bimbilla parliamentary election with 29,267 of the total votes cast.

The candidate of the NDC came close with 25,355 votes.

Bryan Acheampong:


Another appointee of Akufo-Addo who won his re-election bid is the Minister for Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, who represents the people of Abetifi in Parliament.

Acheampong won the parliamentary election with a landslide of 22,287 of the total votes cast.

His contender, Isaac Amoafo Addo, got 8,338 votes.

Abena Osei-Asare:


The Minister of State in charge of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare, also won her parliamentary contest.

The Member of Parliament for Atiwa East won her re-election bid with 17,501 of the total votes cast.

The NDC candidate who challenged her got 5,334 of the votes.

Francis Asenso Boakye:


The Minister of Roads and Highways, Francis Asenso Boakye, also retained the Bantama Constituency seat with over 85% of the votes.

Asenso Boakye won the 2024 elections with 47,275 of the total votes cast.

His challenger, Simeon Addai Dapaah, got 8,023 of the total votes.

Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah:


The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, also won the parliamentary race for the Takoradi Constituency.

Okyere Darko-Mensah, the current MP for Takoradi, who has represented the constituency since 2009, won his re-election bid.

Sammi Awuku:


The Director General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) won the Akuapim North seat for the New Patriotic Party.

He secured a commanding victory with 28,365 of the total votes, defeating his closest contender, John Evans Kumordzi of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who garnered 14,217 votes.

Ekow Assafuah:


Vincent Ekow Assafuah, the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, also retained his seat.

Vincent Ekow Assafuah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development, beat NDC’s Sahmudeen Mohammed to retain his seat.

Dr Ayew Afriye

The Member of Parliament for Effiduase-Asokore in the Ashanti Region, Dr. Nana Ayew Afriye also retained his seat, polling impressive numbers.



BAI/AE