NDC ORGANISES PRIMARIES IN 13 OF 19 CONSTITUENCIES (Page 16)

Story: Joe Okyere, Cape Coast

THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) has organised primaries in 13 out of the 19 constituencies in the region to select parliamentary candidates for the December 2008 election.
Nominations of candidates for the remaining six constituencies will re-open at the end of February and primaries will be organised in March when all the 94 NDC MPs nation-wide will organise primaries to select candidates.
The six constituencies where the primaries have not been held are Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa, Gomoa West, Upper Denkyira East, Upper Denkyira West, Mfantseman East and Atti Mokwaa.
The Central Regional Propaganda Secretary of the party, Mr Allotey Jacobs, made this known to the Daily Graphic at Cape Coast last Tuesday.
Mr Allotey Jacobs explained that primaries have not been held in Upper Denkyira West and Upper Denkyira East because the two constituencies were seen as a Waterloo for the NDC in terms of voting percentage and would need some research in order to build a solid foundation for the party and select the right calibre of candidates to contest the seats.
He said in the case of the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa Constituency, the party had 43.8 per cent of votes in the 2004 elections, there was therefore the need for re-organisation in the constituency, hence the delay.
He said the party had braced itself to win the election in the 19 constituencies and that a fact-finding team had presented its report on the declining fortunes of the party in the region and measures to turn its fortunes around.
Mr Allotey Jacobs said that one thing that had given assurance to the party was that the NPP had failed in its promises of providing employment for the youth.
He said fishermen along the coastal belt were going out of business due to the high prices of fishing inputs and the removal of subsidy on premix fuel.
He said the fishermen had complained that what had even made the fishing industry unattractive was the fact that foreign fishing trawlers which had been given the licence to fish in the country’s territorial waters had also been destroying their canoes and fishing nets.
He gave the names of the constituencies and those elected as Agona East, Theo Maranga, an immigration lawyer in New York; Agona West, Ibrahim Subaro, a lecturer at Accra Polytechnic; Gomoa East, James Okyere, an educationist; Awutu-Senya, Nana David Larbi, an immigration lawyer based in London; Effutu, Mike Hammah, a chartered surveyor; and for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Ato Forson, a security expert based in London.
The rest are Assin North, Isaac Antwi-Bosiako, a banker; Assin South, Sabina Appiah-Kubi, a contractor and businesswoman; Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Anthony Dadzie, an accountant; for Cape Coast, Ebo Barton Oduro, a lawyer; Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem, Dr J.S. Annan, a surgeon specialist and a consultant at the UN; and Twifo-Hemang-Lower Denkyira, Foster Andoh, a chartered purchaser.