By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
Voters in Kumawu in the Ashanti region are in high spirits as they prepare to go to the polls once again to choose a replacement for their Member of Parliament, who died in March this year.
They say their choice of the next MP will be influenced by the need for socio-economic development.
The winner will later be sworn in by the Speaker of Parliament to complete the unexpired term of the late Philip Basoah.
Kamawu is on the radar
Kumawu is one of the 47 constituencies in the Ashanti region, with Kumawu as the capital town.
The constituency derives its name from Kumawu, one of the key traditional towns of Asanteman, as a result of the area’s major contribution to the Asante Kingdom.
It is the seat of the renowned Barima Tweneboah Kodua, one of the four important chiefs who gave themselves up as sacrifices for the famous Feyiase Battle, in which the Asantes eventually defeated the Denkyira, for which a statue of the selfless and brave chief stands as the icon of the town till date.
It is bordered by the Sekyere East, Sekyere Central, and Sekyere Afram Plains constituencies, with a voter population of a little below 35,000.
The constituents are mainly farmers, with a few of them, especially residents within the main town, earning income from petty trading and commerce coupled with formal sector employment at the local assembly and banks.
The By-election
Four persons are contesting the elections, which affords the people the opportunity to select a replacement for their late MP to complete the unexpired term of the current and 8th Parliament, which ends on 6th January 2025.
They are Mr. Ernest Yaw Anim of the ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP; Mr. Kwasi Amankwaah of the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC; and two independent candidates.
Interestingly, they both bear the same name, thus Kwaku Duah, and lie 3rd and 4th on the ballot paper.
The third Kwaku Duah on the ballot paper first contested in the same capacity in the 2020 parliamentary election and nearly caused an upset when he polled over 11,000 of the total valid votes, drawing down on the gains of the eventual winner, the late Philip Basoah, who had a little more than 14,000 of the votes.
Coincidentally again, except the 3rd candidate on the ballot paper, all the remaining three candidates are contesting in the constituency for the first time as both the NPP and NDC have had to change their candidates, with the 4th candidate on the ballot paper emerging at the last minutes of the filing process.
Intriguingly too, the two independent candidates co-named Kwaku Duah and appearing 3rd and 4th on the ballot paper are both wearing local fabric ‘Nwentoma’ as their photograph, and but for a last-minute change by the Electoral Commission, they could have had the same Symbol against their names and photographs—white doves—on the ballot paper.
But, just before the by-election, the EC released a new ballot paper that now has a ‘hoe’ replacing the white dove as the symbol for the new entrant Kwaku Duah.
What the people said
Ahead of the by-election on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, GBCNews visited the main town of the constituency, Kumawu, to gauge the readiness of the voters for the exercise.
They were asked common questions about how ready they are for the exercise and what would guide their vote as they choose a new Member of Parliament.
Unanimously, the respondents said they are very much ready but proffered different determining factors in choosing the new MP.
A hawker, Elizabeth Duah, said, “my vote is my secret. I’m very ready to vote. For me, my choice will be influenced by who can help bring more development projects to this town.”
“I’ve been supporting the NPP all this while. We need our number in Parliament to increase to help Nana Akufo-Addo to manage this country, and anything short of this won’t be good for us. So, I’m going to vote for the NPP’s candidate,” said a middle-aged man, Akwasi Konadu.
On her part, a trader, Doris Yandon, responded, “I’ll go and vote. I can’t sit at home and allow others to decide for me.”
“Who I’ll vote for will be based on what I’m going through in my business now. For change, we need for us, the youth, to get jobs to live and stop the anti-social activities,” noted Yusif Emmanuel, a motorised tricycle rider.
The upcoming by-election in Kumawu has been necessitated by the death of the Member of Parliament, Mr. Philip Atta Basoah, on the 27th of March this year while serving his 3rd consecutive term.
He first entered Parliament in 2013 and was serving his third term after winning the 2020 parliamentary election after a close contest.
