In the 2020 parliamentary elections, the NPP candidate, Abdul-Karim Zanni Dubiure, lost to the NDC’s Laadi Ayi Ayamba with 63 votes. Abdul-Karim Zanni Dubiure polled 14,866 votes.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dubiure challenged the election of Laadi Ayii Ayamba as Member of Parliament (MP) for the area. Mr. Dubiure, in a petition filed at the Bolgatanga High Court on Friday, January 8, 2021, claimed there were incidents of over-voting in certain polling stations.
The suit filed had the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) and Madam Ayamba of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as the respondents.
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, the Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Namoo, shared concerns that the party would have won but for machinations within the party’s own ranks.
“It is unfortunate that in 2020 we couldn’t achieve our mandate, largely because of our own doings. Our nemesis has not always been the NDC. It has been ourselves. We keep on saying that you cannot get a candidate [easily], it is a compromise we have to reach. Nobody is the best. You bring your strength, I bring my strength and somebody else brings his, and then we all push one person. This is the foundation of our party.”
Lawyer Namoo went on to recall the creation of the NPP and the tradition that has long directed the progress and sustenance of the party.
“Our party was built on [the idea that] we pull together, allow one person to go, and next time, we support the other. We also have to understand that it is a sacrifice. You may not be an MP, but another person may be there,” he said.
Lawyer Namoo continued to say, “We normally undo ourselves”. As the party nears another round of internal elections, the Regional Chairman appealed for civility in engagements with the delegate conferences.
“I want to use your medium to appeal that we are at it again. We are getting to the period and if in 2020, we didn’t learn a big lesson, [we should have by now]. I am sure by now, some people are saying, had I known. Look at Pusiga, the gap used to be about 8,000, and the number of times I visited that constituency and we worked so hard for you to have lost by 63, we gave it to the NDC. The NDC never won Pusiga and so many other constituencies.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
