FILING of nominations for the parliamentary election in Kumasi and some other parts of the Ashanti Region started on a slow note as the exercise got underway on Thursday.
As of 10a.m. only a few of the constituencies in Kumasi had witnessed some action.
For constituencies like Nhyiaeso and Asokwa, no one had filed his/her nomination, but expectations were that the candidates would move in to file on Thursday and Friday.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bantama, Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who is seeking re-election to Parliament, told the Daily Graphic on phone that she had prepared all her documents and, even though she was in Accra, her representatives would file on her behalf before the close of work on Thursday.
However, Mr Stephen Saahene, an Independent Candidate for Bantama, had already filed his nomination as of midday, and Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto of the NPP had also filed his nomination for the Kwadaso Constituency.
At Manhyia, the NPP candidate, Mr Matthew Prempeh, a.k.a. Napo, had also filed his nomination as of the time the Daily Graphic visited the area.
In fact, he was the only one to have filed and was confident of winning massively in the December elections.
In some constituencies of the region, some candidates were still trying to get their tax clearance certificates to enable them to file.
For instance, at Bosome Freho, the NDC candidate, Mr Anthony Asiedu, said in a telephone interview that he was in the process of securing his tax clearance certificate to enable him to file before the close of day.
At Bekwai, the NDC candidate, Mr Noah Asante, had filed his nomination to contest the elections and said he would spring a surprise in the election.
Mr Joe Osei Wusu, an Independent Candidate for Bekwai, said he travelled outside the country and had just returned. According to him, he was in the process of getting his documents ready to file, either on Thursday or yesterday.
Mr Osei Wusu decided to go independent after a failed bid to secure NPP delegates’ nod in the Bekwai Constituency.
No candidate from the Reform Patriotic Democrats (RPD), the People’s National Convention (PNC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) were there to file their nomination in Kumasi.
RPD Presidential Aspirant, Mr Kwabena Agyei, a.k.a. Bambata, was however confident that they would go through the appropriate processes to contest in all the constituencies of the region.
Relatedly, Nana Yaw Osei also reports from Kumasi that the NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Oforikrom, Mr Ebenezer Okletey Terlarbi, filed his nomination papers with officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) at the Askowa Sub-Metropolitan District Council at Oforikrom in Kumasi.
The parliamentary candidate who is a lecturer at the Biochemistry Department of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) said if the people of Oforikrom should vote for him, he would establish guidance and counselling centres in all the eight electoral areas in the constituency to cater for the informational needs of the youth in terms of providing information on education, reproductive health, skill acquisition, among others.
In the 2004 elections, the NDC parliamentary candidate polled 21, 056 (29.4 per cent) votes as against the NPP’s 47, 388 (66.2 per cent).
On why the NDC lost the constituency, Mr Terlarbi attributed the defeat to the fact that the Oforikrom Constituency in 2004 had just been carved uut of the former Asokwa East Constituency and so the NDC did not have functioning executive and active party structures on the ground.
George Folley Quaye also reports from Wa that the incumbent Member of Parliament for Wa Central, Mr Abdul Rashid Pelpuo, on Thursday, filed his nomination to contest on the ticket of the NDC.
The MP would be contesting NPP Parliamentary candidate, Mr Clement Eledi.
He submitted his papers to the Wa Municipal Electoral Officer, Mr Lucas Tiryel, who after verifying the nomination documents, said Mr Pelpuo had satisfied the necessary requirements to contest the elections. Looking elated, Mr Pelpuo, who was accompanied by a host of supporters of the NDC, told the Daily Graphic that he was optimistic of victory.
He described his filing of nomination forms as a mere formality, since the electorate in the constituency had already decided to retain him.
He advised supporters of the various political parties to conduct their campaigns in a peaceful manner.
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