Interesting factors that caused a lot of MPs to lose their seats in parliament

What is however intriguing about the parliamentary election is that a lot of incumbent members of the two major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have lost their seats. At least 28 incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) legislators have lost their parliamentary seats in Monday’s elections. Some 21 of them are either ministers, ministers of state or deputy ministers.

Even more intriguing about the seat losses was the fact that some of the vanquished are ministers and deputy ministers in the governing NPP and have all the resources at their disposal.

About 28 NPP MP’s who double as ministers and deputy ministers have lost their seats in parliament but some of the losses are mindboggling because of their popularity and the strategic ministerial positions they occupy in government.

Different factors including nonperformance influenced the decisions of the Ghanaian electorates to vote their representatives out.

For instance, in the case of Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, MP for Krowor and Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture who lost the Krowor constituency in the Greater Accra region, some constituents say she was arrogant and did not fulfill most of the promises she had made to them.

Another interesting one is George Andah, MP for Awutu Senya who doubles as the Deputy Communications Minister. He has lost to Gisella Tetteh of the NDC, sister to his predecessor, ex-foreign affairs minister Hannah Tetteh for nonperformance and perceived arrogance.

Barbara Asher Ayisi, Cape Coast North MP and Deputy Minister for Works and Housing too lost her seat for nonperformance. Her constituents claim she was unavailable and hardly visits the constituency.

Also, Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Bernard Okoe-Boye lost the Ledzokuku seat to Ben Ayiku after just a term. He has been popular due to his good health communication skill especially concerning the Covid-19 pandemic. He has done some development projects including building of some strategic roads in his constituency such as the Lekma road among others but they all could not help him retain the seat.

For Derrick Oduro, MP for Nkoranza North and Deputy Defence Minister, his defeat did not come to many as a surprise because a few weeks to the election, a video emerged in which his constituents were seen chasing him and campaign team away because he made promises to them but failed to fulfill them.

Then, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka who represents the people of Tempane in parliament and doubles as Deputy Attorney General also lost his seat because according to the constituents, he was not frequenting the constituency, did not perform to their expectation and is hardly available.

Another factor that caused the loss of some of the seats has to do with imposition of candidates on the constituents by the political parties. Some constituents decided to vote skirt and blouse to vent their displeasure.

A typical case in point is that of the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Fomena Constituency, Andrew Amoako Asiamah who has won the seat as an Independent Candidate.

He was defeated by Philip Ofori-Asante in the NPP’s primary but Asiamah felt cheated, so he decided to go into the election as an independent candidate.

The party and its influential people tried to talk him out of the decision but he was adamant. The NPP then wrote to the speaker of Parliament Prof Mike Ocquaye to expel him from the house, claiming he had forfeited his membership of the party and should be considered as having cross-carpeted.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Article 97(1)(g) of the Constitution states that: A member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member,” General Secretary of the NPP John Boadu said in a statement on October 13, 2020.

However, interestingly, although the party expelled him and parliament too declared his seat vacant, he remained the constituents’ favourite.

During the Monday, December 7 election, Mr Asiamah polled 12,805 votes to defeat his closest contender Philip Ofori-Asante who got 10,798 votes and the NDC candidate Christina Ama Ranson who had 2,608 votes.

A similar situation repeated itself in other constituencies. Mercy Adu-Gyamfi, NPP MP for Akwatia Constituency in the Eastern Region who won the seat from NDC’s Baba Jamal in 2016 was defeated in the NPP’s primaries and got replaced by Earnest Kumi, and he didn’t win the seat.

Many people thought the party’s failure to protect her from being contested in its primary has resulted in the loss of the seat to the NDC. Mercy Adu-Gyamfi popularly known as Ama Sei who suffered a lot of bullying after her victory in 2016 due to lack of high formal education appears to remain the constituents’ favourite.

The 2020 general elections have shown that Ghanaian electorate are getting more and more discerning and would punish any politician who takes them for granted, through the ballot.

Another interesting development that has ensued in this year’s election is the return of former MP for Zebilla East Constituency Cletus Avoka who lost the seat to the NPP’s Frank Adongo Fuseini in 2016.

Prior to the 2016 elections, the constituents said he had served for too long so he should allow another person to represent them in parliament. Now, he has won the seat back for the NDC.

Eyebrows got raised when Energy minister John Peter Amewu has made history by winning the Hohoe constituency seat for the NPP.

What did the magic for him was the development he has brought to the people over the period including the construction of roads, provision of jobs and so on as well as being in touch with the people consistently. The constituents voted the NDC aspirant Professor Margaret Kwaku, a former Municipal Chief Executive of the Hohoe Municipal Assembly.

The seat has been for the NDC for years but the people thought that they have not seen much development over the years so although Amewu is with the NPP, it would be prudent to give him a chance to develop the constituency as he has started doing already as a non-MP.

Below is the list of NPP MPs who lost the elections on December 7 2020, their constituencies and their positions in government.

1) George Oduro – New Edubiase – Deputy Agric Minister

2) George Andah – Awutu Senya – Deputy Communications Minister

3) Yaw Buabeng Asamoah – Adenta

4) Boniface Abubakar Saddique – Minister of State

5) Siaka Stephens – Jaman North – Deputy Bono Regional Minister

6) Yaw Afful – Jaman South – Deputy Aviation Minister

7) Ali Maiga Hamidu – Dormaa West

8) George Gyan Baffuor – Wenchi – Minister for Planning

9) Derrick Oduro – Nkoranza North – Deputy Defence Minister

10) Charles Konadu Yiadom – Nkoranza South

11) Abena Durowaa Mensah – Assin North