Joe Mensah replaces Baidoe Ansah at Kwesimintsim
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Kwesimintsim, Mr. Joe Baidoe-Ansah, on Tuesday, missed the opportunity to represent his constituents in Parliament after losing the party’s primary.
The incumbent MP polled 122 votes as against 187 garnered by his sole competitor, Mr. Joseph Mensah, in a keenly contested election.
In all, 309 valid votes were cast with two rejected ballots out of the expected 341 delegates.
The election, which should have been organised 16 months ago, was delayed due to a court suit filed by Mr. Joseph Mensah over his disqualification by the Party’s Vetting Committee.
However, an Accra High Court last Friday, September 23, cleared him to contest the Party’s primary after ruling that Mr. Mensah was unjustifiably disqualified.
Mr. Kwabena Asante, the Takoradi-Effia Sub-Metropolitan Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission, supervised the elections and afterwards declared Mr. Mensah the winner after the close of the counting of the votes.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Mensah pledged to bring onboard all the aggrieved party members who did not support his candidature, including the defeated Member of Parliament, in order to retain the seat for the Party in the December 7 General Election.
He said the party’s sole objective this year was to recapture political power from the ruling National Democratic Congress, therefore, the Party’s internal contest should not disrupt them from achieving their goals.
Earlier, Mr. Frederick Fredua Anto, the National First Vice Chairman of the Party, who led a delegation from the Party’s headquarters, in Accra, entreated delegates to conduct themselves decently and rally behind any candidate that would emerge victorious in the polls.
He said this year’s general election was very crucial to the NPP, having lost the 2008 and 2012 elections, respectively.
Therefore, he said, they should not allow petty internal squabbles and misunderstanding to derail their chances this time round.
Some dignitaries, which graced the Extra-ordinary Constituency Congress, were Mr. Kamara Deen, the National Coordinator of Nasara Club, Mr. Francis Ndedesia, the acting Regional Chairman of the Party, Okatakyie Amankwa Afrifa, Regional Communications Director, Mr. Ernest Nkrumah, Regional Elections and Research Officer, and many party faithful.
Source: GNA