As Ghana gears toward the 9th general elections in the 4th Republic, the Afadzato South Constituency has been identified as a battleground for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The constituency seat in parliament was part of the five targeted by the NPP in the Volta Region in the run-up to the 2020 general elections but was missed.
NDC’s Angela Oforiwa Alowu-Tay secured her second term in office with 19,577, beating James Etornam Flolu with 11,901 votes, in the election which saw the NPP win the Hohoe Parliamentary seat from the NDC.
Nonetheless, the governing party has fielded again Mr. Flolu, who has served as the Afadzato South District Chief Executive since 2019.
He was overwhelmingly endorsed with 331 votes against his competitor, Steve Delano Qwaqu Klu’s 154, because he has been identified ‘as the face of the NPP in Afadzato South’.
Mr. Flolu would compete with the NDC’s Frank Afriyie a former Constituency Chairman who floored the
incumbent MP, Angela Oforiwa Alowu-Tay in their primaries.
The NPP’s candidate goes into the race stronger than he previously did, as he had a period of 3 years to familiarize himself with the electorates and understands the needs of the constituency.
He has pitched his campaign on four thematic areas; serving as a new voice for the constituency, prioritizing the needs of the constituency, relying on his network to resolve societal challenges, and proven communication and lobbying skills.
Will these thematic areas convince the electorates who have since the inception of the 4th Republic in 1992, sided with the NDC, to consider a candidate representing the NPP?
The NPP saw an increase in its votes in 2020, polling 27.94% of the total parliamentary votes, against 13.46% in 2016.
In as much as the NPP aims to win the Afadzato seat, it is also expecting to retain the Hohoe seat, which was won by John Peter Amewu in 2020.
The NDC on the other hand seeks to maintain all 17 seats in the Volta Region and win back that of Hohoe, hence would deploy stringent tactics towards achieving this objective, as they battle it out with the NPP.