Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has addressed an alleged incident of assault involving independent candidate Kwaku Duah during the recently concluded Kumawu by-election.

Chairman Wontumi revealed that Kwaku Duah is fortunate because he, Wontumi, has changed his ways. In the past, he would have instructed his supporters to take action against Duah for allegedly slapping an NPP agent at a polling center.

Wontumi claimed that Kwaku Duah has experienced a significant decline in his followers and supporters, which has seemingly led him to frustration and resorting to assaulting people.

"Do you know that the independent candidate has slapped someone? He is frustrated. He slapped someone at an Anglican school near the chief’s palace. He is frustrated because what happens during a general election is different from a by-election. It’s a different game."

"The independent candidate is frustrated because he has lost all his followers."

"If I was in my old ways, I would have ordered my boys to deal with him, but I have decided to hand him over to the police. Otherwise, I would have dealt with him severely. He has lost the election, I can confirm," adomonline.com quoted him as saying in an interview with Adom TV on May 23, 2023.

Chairman Wontumi emphasized that he has changed his confrontational approach and has allowed the police to handle the matter.

Meanwhile, Ernest Yaw Anim, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate, emerged as the winner of the Kumawu by-election held on May 23, 2023.

The by-election, which initially faced uncertainties in its outcome, has finally declared a winner.

Ernest Yaw Anim received 15,264 votes, representing 70.91% of the valid votes. Kwasi Amankwaa, running on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), secured 3,723 votes, representing 17.29%.

Kwaku Duah, an independent candidate, garnered 2,478 votes, representing 11.51%, while another independent candidate with the same name managed to secure only 62 votes, representing 0.29%.

Mr. Paul Agyemang, the constituency's returning officer, announced the results, stating that the registered voters were 34,790, with 21,527 valid votes cast, representing 62.45%. There were 204 rejected ballots.

Some jubilant NPP supporters, speaking to GhanaWeb prior to the official declaration, expressed their confidence that the NPP candidate would emerge victorious with a significant margin.

They explained that their decision not to reject the independent candidate, Kwaku Duah, stemmed from their fact-finding, which revealed that he was not affiliated with the NPP party despite his initial claims.

"He told us he was partially NPP, but we discovered he was lying," some supporters told GhanaWeb.





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