ASHONG NARH WINS TEMA EAST NPP (PAGE 15)

Story: Rose Hayford Darko, Tema

THE scramble for the Tema East New Patriotic Party (NPP) Constituency parliamentary seat has ended with the election of Mr Evans Ashong Narh, a former Chief Executive of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, who ousted the incumbent, Mr Ishmael Ashietey, to represent the party in the December 2008 general election.
He polled 71 votes against 49 to win the party’s constituency primary held in Tema yesterday under the supervision of officials of the Tema office of the Electoral Commission. One delegate was absent and therefore did not vote.
This brings to an end the drama of who qualifies to represent the party and all the hullabaloo about disqualification of some candidates for violation of constitutional obligations.
Mr Ashong Narh was carried shoulder high by the delegates after the Tema Municipal Officer of the EC, Mr Michael Boadu, had announced the results.
The atmosphere was charged but the delegates showed maturity and ensured that the voting process was peaceful.
Mr Ashong Narh, who is currently the Managing Director of Anok Engineering Service, in his appreciation speech, thanked the delegates for the confidence reposed in him, explaining that he became a member of the party in October 1992.
Mr Ashietey, in an earlier speech, promised to use his experience gained in Parliament over the period 1996 to date to work in support of the Presidential candidate to win for the party.
However, after losing the election, he conceded defeat and promised to give all his support to Mr Ashong Narh.
The Tema East Constituency branch of the NPP has, for some time now, been in the news due to internal bickering and misunderstanding between the executives, aspirants and the delegates.
In a recent drama, an aspirant, Mr Ramseyer Agyeman Prempeh, who was disqualified for breaching the constitution of the party by going independent, was accused by an executive member, Mr Charles Boateng, for allegedly threatening to kill him.
The case is pending and being investigated by the Tema Regional Police.
Another aspirant, Mr Titus Glover, was also disqualified for not having voting rights and therefore could not be allowed to go to the primary.
This made it a straight fight between Mr Ishmael Ashietey, the incumbent, and Mr Ashong Narh.
The NPP Regional Officer, Mr Eric Kwaitia, who represented the Region? congratulated the delegates on the peaceful elections and urged them to support the candidate to carry the party to win the December general elections.
There were observers from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Convention People’s Party (CPP) and Assembly members of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly.