By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
Incumbent Member of Parliament for Suame Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has confirmed to the media that he has a preferred Candidate to replace him in Parliament in the ongoing NPP’s Parliamentary Primaries.
Mr. Mensah Bonsu expressed optimism that his choice of candidate would eventually win the primaries, despite some alleged intimidation by some members of the party in the Constituency.
He made the confirmation during an interview with GBC News after casting his vote.
The NPP Parliamentary Election in the Suame Constituency in the Ashanti Region has generated high interest among politically active people, with the Incumbent MP, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, stepping down at the end of the tenure of the current Parliament. He has served as the Suame MP since January 1997, making him one of the most experienced MPs in Ghana, but will be retiring in January 2025.
In the primaries to choose a successor, four members of the party are contesting. They are the Suame Municipal Chief Executive, Maxwell Ofosu Boakye; a Private Legal Practitioner, Mr. John Darko; Pius Acheamping; and another, Adubofuor. Before now, speculations have been rife that the Incumbent MP, Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu, had a preferred candidate.
After casting his ballot in the primaries at the Freeman Training Institute Voting Centre ‘A’, GBCNews caught up with him in an interview.
He was asked about the veracity of the speculations, which he confirmed but fell short of publicly identifying the person.
Mr. Kyei Mensah was optimistic about the chances of his preferred candidate, despite what he alleged to be intimidation by some members of the party.
Asked whether or not his wealth of experience would pose challenges to his successor, the Majority Leader in Parliament who doubles as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, noted that, considering the number of years he has served in Parliament and his ministerial role in addition to his positions at the Commonwealth Parliament, among others, whoever takes over from him would need time to match up.
Meanwhile, voting has been smooth in spite of some intermittent misunderstandings among the delegates.
Out of the original number of 964 delegates in that constituency, 48 were reported either dead or traveled leaving 916 who were expected to take part in the election.
The Electoral Commission mounted two voting centres, ‘A’ and ‘B’, to facilitate the voting process.
There was a tight security arrangement by the Ghana Police Service.
