The Ashanti Regional Office of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has passed all 85 aspirants who filed to run for parliamentary seats in the region.
The party has finished vetting all parliamentary candidates across the country, ahead of its primaries on May 13. Candidates without any restrictions, can now successfully campaign ahead of the election.
NDC Ashanti Regional Secretary, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, avers the party is pleased with the people who appeared to contest the primaries.
“For the records, there were no disqualifications whatsoever. There were five petitions, the vetting committee sat on same and we cleared the candidates based on our guidelines.”
Dr. Frank Amoakohene
Moreover, the party’s Regional Vetting Committee found in the Eastern Region, likewise, cleared 71 candidates seeking to lead the party in the region, out of 75 aspirants. Two aspirants however, withdrew their nominations; they are from the West Akim and Akropong Constituencies.
Nevertheless, a total of 60 aspirants which includes two women in the Northern Region, have been vetted to contest in the upcoming National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries.
However, three aspirants, including one Professor Bawah Abdul Fatawu, who filed to contest in Tamale South, and two other women were disqualified by the vetting committee.
Initially, three incumbent Members of Parliament were going unopposed because no one filed to contest them at the close of nomination. Following the disqualification of the aspirant for the Tamale South constituency, the incumbent, Haruna Iddrisu will go unopposed, bringing the number of incumbents going unopposed to four.
The other incumbents going unopposed in the Northern Region, include Alhassan Sayibu Suhuyini of Tamale North, Murtala Mohammed of Tamale Central, and Daniel Nsala for Kpandai. This means 53 candidates will be battling for some 14 seats in the upcoming primaries, in the Northern Region.
Secretariat To Sanction Executives Found Openly Politicking For Aspirants
The Upper East Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it will sanction any regional or constituency executives, found openly campaigning for parliamentary aspirants, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections on May 13, 2023.
The sanctions, include outright dismissal from the party, which according to the secretariat is to ensure party executives remain neutral and have the moral authority to reconcile disgruntled aspirants, for a united front to victory.
57 persons in total, picked nomination forms to contest in the NDC’s parliamentary race in the 15 constituencies in the Upper East Region. Out of this, 4 persons did not submit their forms for vetting, while 1 person also withdrew from the contest.
At the end of a 3-day vetting exercise, Dr. Stanislaus Akadigere, who filed to contest in the Navrongo Central constituency, was disqualified due to his inability to secure nomination forms. In all, 51 aspirants were successfully vetted to contest in the parliamentary race. The vetting committee members, however, reiterated that all regional and constituency executives should refrain from openly campaigning for aspirants or risk being sanctioned.
The committee’s head of legal, Halidu Abdul-Rauf, said, the directive is in the interest of the party to effectively manage its internal issues for victory in 2024.
A vice chairman of the NDC, Chief Sofo Azorka, optimistic that the NDC will grasp victory over 205 seats out of the 275 seats in parliament, described the incompetence of the governing NPP as the bane of the economic hardship in the country. He added that it was time Ghanaians gave former President John Mahama the opportunity to rescue the country, from its current economic mess.
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