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Ashaiman: A constituency to watch on December 7

Majority of Ghanaian electorate including supporters of the NPP in Ashaiman consistency believe that the party (NPP) is formidable enough to take over power from the ruling NDC

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Apart from the 1992 parliamentary elections which was boycotted by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the main opposition party, the NPP has since participated in all the subsequent elections held in the country with the last one in 2012.

The Ashaiman parliamentary seat is currently occupied by Mr Alfred Kwesi Agbesi on the ticket of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), but he lost the seat to Mr Ernest Norgbey in the primaries, who is now NDC parliamentary candidate for Ashaiman.

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The majority of Ghanaian electorate including supporters of the NPP in Ashaiman consistency believe that the party (NPP) is formidable enough to take over power from the ruling NDC in the constituency.

Although the NDC is the longest serving government in the Fourth Republic, the NPP can battle it when it comes to developmental projects.

It has been a seat the NDC has held since its creation but lost to the NPP's Emmanuel Teye in the year 2000.

The party in 2004 reclaimed the seat when incumbent Alfred Kwame Agbesi won the seat. The member of parliament in 2008 and 2012 maintained the seat and indicated during the last general election he would not seek reelection.

The NPP parliamentary candidate for Ashaiman, Alhaji Labarang Yakubu Barry is certain of winning at least 65 per cent of votes cast in the area in the December 7 polls.

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He is convinced of victory due to the NDC's poor performance in government.

Although recent political trends show, the Ashaiman constituency was a stronghold of the NDC, most of the electorates in the area will vote for the NPP in this year's elections due to the untold economic hardship the NDC has led the country into.

The majority of Ghanaian electorate including supporters of the NPP in the consistency believe that the NPP was formidable enough to take over power from the NDC in the constituency.

Although it has been a seat the NDC has held since its creation but lost to the NPP's Emmanuel Teye in the year 2000.

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The party in 2004 reclaimed the seat when incumbent Alfred Kwame Agbesi won the seat. The member of parliament in 2008 and 2012 maintained the seat and indicated during the last general election he would not seek reelection.

The NPP parliamentary candidate, Alhaji Labarang Yakubu Barry said he is certain of winning at least 65 per cent of votes cast in the area in the December 7 polls.

He was convinced of victory due to the NDC's poor performance in government.

Although recent political trends show, the Ashaiman constituency was a stronghold of the NDC, most of the electorates in the area will vote for the NPP in this year's elections due to the untold economic hardship the governing NDC has led the country into.

History of votes

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Franklin Winfred K Aheto won the seat for the NDC in the year 1992.

In the 2000 elections, the NDC suffered in the region because some of its worthy champions such as   Alfred Agbesi of Ashaiman contested the Ashaiman seat not on the ticket of the NDC but as an independent candidate following a misunderstanding he had with the party and its candidate for the Ashaiman constituency, Mr Franklin Aheto.

In the 2000  parliamentary election, Mr Agbesi polled 20,088 votes while Aheto got 12,607 votes.The NPP candidate, Mr Emmanuel Kinsford Kwesi Teye, with 21,894 votes,  snatched the Ashaiman seat from the NDC  for the first time.

In the 2004 elections, the number of constituencies in the region increased from 22 to 27 and all the political parties were poised to benefit from the increase.

To the shock of the NPP, the NDC came from behind to increase its seats from seven in 2000 to 11 in 2004 with the NPP, the ruling party in 2004. Making only a seat gain in the region bringing its number of seats in the region to 16 as against 11 won by NDC.

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In 2004, among the constituencies that came back to the NDC was the Ashaiman constituency where Alfred Kwame Agbesi contested on the ticket of the NDC.

He won the seat for the party when he polled 53,313 votes to beat his main contender, the incumbent NPP Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Mr Emmanuel Kinsford Kwesi Teye, who polled 36,044 in a keenly contested election.

In the 2012 elections, NDC won again with 47,154 votes, Seji Saji Amedonu of the NPP had 32,650 but was not enough to win the constituency.

Afenyo Tony of the NDC who went as an independent candidate polled 13,864, Hamida Bidolti Damba of the CPP polled 184 votes.

2016 is another election year and whether the NPP is staging a comeback to claim seats that the NDC won.

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