NPP CONCLUDES PRIMARIES IN BA (PAGE 14)

Story: Samuel Duodu, Sunyani

THE New Patriotic Party (NPP) has concluded its primaries to elect parliamentary candidates who would contest on the party ticket for the forthcoming December general elections in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The candidates are Mr. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister for the Sunyani West constituency, Mr. Robert Sarfo Mensah, for the Asunafo North, Mr. Ernest Akobour Debrah, the Minister of Food and Agriculture for Tano North, Mr. Andrews Adjei Yeboah. a Deputy Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines for Tano South, Mr. Yaw Afful for Jaman South and Kwaku Agyenim-Boateng for the Berekum Constituency.
The rest are Mr. Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh for Sunyani East, Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, a Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic planning for Wenchi, Mr. Yaw Ntow-Ababio for Dormaa East, Mr. Kwaku Agyemang Manu, a Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry for Dormaa West, Kwame Amporfo Twumasi, a Deputy Minister of Energy for Nkoranza South, Major Derick Oduro (retd) for Nkoranza North and Mr. Paul Okoh for Asutifi North.
Briefing newsmen in Sunyani after the completion of the party's primaries, Mr. Kwasi Adu Gyan, the NPP Brong Ahafo Regional Chairman, said the party was confident to win 20 seats out of the 24 parliamentary seats in the region.
He said the party was working hard to regain the six seats that it lost to the NDC in the 2004 election to add to the 14 seats that the party won.
Mr. Adu Gyan said to ensure that the party achieved the target, it had began with the restructuring of its polling stations by increasing the number of polling station executives from five to 15 to embarked on what he termed "a room to room" campaign to counter the house to house campaign of Prof. Atta Mills, the flag bearer of the NDC.
Relatedly, three political heavyweights of the NPP who contested the party’s primaries in the Region have been handed a resounding defeat in the keenly contested primaries. 
The aspirants are Ms Anna Nyamekye, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture; Nana Obiri Boahen, a Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior, and the former NPP Regional Chairman; Captain Nkrabeah Effah Dartey (retd), one of the former presidential aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and incumbent Member of Parliament for Berekum.
Capt. Effah-Dartey (retd), who was challenged in the contest by six other aspirants, polled five votes out of the total of 118 votes cast at the primaries, thereby losing the seat to Mr Kwaku Agyenim-Boateng, a legal services consultant, who obtained 88 votes and emerged as the winner of the keenly contested primaries.
The other contestants in the race were Dr Kwabena Twum-Nuamah, a medical practitioner; Mr Francis Manu-Gyan, Regional Administrative Officer of GBC at Ho; Dr Kodjo Opoku-Adomah, a veterinary surgeon; Nana Adu-Gyamfi Kumaning, a retired diplomat; and Professor Daniel Obeng-Ofori, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon. They polled three, one, three, nil and 18 votes respectively.
The Sunyani East Constituency primaries was won by Mr Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, General Secretary of the National Association of Local Authorities and a former Presiding Member of the Sunyani Municipal Assembly, who polled 61 votes to beat Nana Obiri Boahen, who polled five votes, and Mr Kwame Twumasi-Awuah, the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, who had 39 votes.
The Sunyani East seat became vacant following Mr J.H. Mensah’s decision not to seek re-election. Mr Mensah is also the sitting NPP MP.
Ms Nyamekye, who is also the incumbent MP for the Jaman South Constituency, lost her seat to Mr Yaw Maama Afful, a US-based businessman who polled 63 votes against 39 to win the primaries.
Other aspirants who contested Ms Nyamekye were: Mr Stephen Kofi Adinkrah, Mr Prince Yeboah Marfo, the Vice-Principal of the Berekum Training College; Johnson Yeboah, Madam Florence Boadi, a tutor at the Sunyani Senior High School, and Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, a Sunyani-based legal practitioner, who polled nil, two, three, two and four votes respectively, out of the 114 total ballots cast.