GhanaPoliticsOnline.Com
By Gifty Arthur
After many political schemes to get the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia North in the Ashanti Region, Collins Owusu Amankwah, out of his current position, he has won the Constituency primaries for the second time in a tense competition.
Mr. Amankwah, last Saturday, polled a total of 185 votes, while his closest contender, Akwasi Konadu, polled 176 votes. A third candidate, Nana Osei Bamfo, managed 120 votes from the delegates.
The primary, had to be postponed several times after Mr. Amankwah, and Nana Osei Bamfoe, questioned the credibility of the register, claiming among others that it was bloated and fraudulent.
It was the only Constituency in the region that had not elected a parliamentary candidate for the party until last Saturday.
This means that, the wish of the NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, has been denied by the people of Manhyia North.
The defiant MP, recently received hefty slaps from the party’s Ashanti Regional chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako who is cherished by the NPP flagbearer. The men had planned to get rid of the MP who is a supporter of Alan Kyeremanten.
The primaries had suffered so many setbacks with claims that someone domiciled in the United Kingdom (KU) had been brought by the camp of Nana Addo to snatch the seat from Mr. Amankwa.
The MP belongs to ex-President John Kufuor’s camp hence his ill-treatment in the party.
According to reports, the parliamentary primary over the weekend was marred by altercations over the eligibility of some delegates. There was heavy presence of the Delta Forces, the Kumasi version of the Invincible Forces,who have been behind the bloody clashes and destruction of properties at the NPP headquarters in Accra.
Warning shots were fired by Police to prevent some people from whisking the ballot boxes away. Three persons were picked up over the confusion that ensued.
Some 496 NPP delegates voted to elect a parliamentary candidate for the Constituency.
Until Saturday, the opposition party, has been without a parliamentary candidate ahead of this year’s crucial election as a result of disagreements over contents of the Constituency’s register.
After many postponements for other reasons, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NPP, called for a re-run of all elections in the Manhyia North Constituency from the polling station level to the Constituency executive level before the election of a parliamentary aspirant could take
place.
The party explained in a letter signed by its Acting General Secretary, John Boadu, that it arrived at the decision considering a Supreme Court ruling on April 9, 2014, which called for the annulment of the existing Constituency album and ordered a re-run.
The errors were rectified in June, this year and the party went on to elect new Constituency executives.
