Over the years, the National Democratic Congress has relied on Ghanaians in the Volta Region whenever it is time for elections because indigenes there tend to vote massively for candidates of the party.

Due to this phenomenon the region, particularly Anlo, has been largely described as the stronghold of the National Democratic Congress since 1992. Indeed, stalwarts of the party have declared the area their vote bank.

But this has not always been the case. A renowned historian who doubles as the spokesperson for the Awoemefia has given the breakdown of how the trend came to be.

According to Agbotadua Togbi Kumassah, Anlos were predominantly associated with Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) until Jerry John Rawlings appeared on the political scene.

Speaking on GhanaWeb’s People and Places show, he asserted that Anlos are more comfortable with persons they can call their own and, thus can trust to seek after their best interest.

Asked whether the tag pinned on the people of Anlo being NDC is true, he responded;

“Yes and No.”

He explained that “in Anlo here, we were predominantly CPP but Anloga, they were UP…the UP and the NPP were from the same camp. It was when Rawlings emerged, by that time they had proscribed the CPP because his ideas were close to that of the CPP then.

“We want somebody to call our own because we don’t trust other people giving us food. We want people who know us as one of us. That is the reason why you find as if the Anlo area follows NDC,” Togbi Kumassah noted.

He was, however, quick to add that there are some reputable persons within the rank and file of the governing New Patriotic Party who are from Anlo and as such garner votes from the populace.

“…we have some powerful men with the NPP from here too. The Regional Chairman is from here… the Okudzetos are also from here,” he intimated.

Watch the episode below:



This story was originally published in 2020 and has only been republished for educational purposes.