NDC elects constituency officers today; 24 on hold

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) will today and tomorrow elect officers to steer the affairs of the Party at the constituency level for the next four years.

All is set for the elections, except in 24 constituencies in the Eastern, Central, Volta, Upper West, and Greater Accra regions where the elections have been put on hold.

A statement signed by Mr Daniel Amartey Mensah, Deputy Director of Elections, NDC, ahead of the elections, said the decision was taken due to “disputes over delegates’ list for those constituencies and/or the exclusion from ballot papers of candidates who have been qualified through the appeal process.”

The affected constituencies in the Eastern Region are: Mpraeso, Atiwa East, Atiwa West, Achiase, Nkwawkwaw, Upper West Akim , Afram Plains North, Akim Swedru , Akropong , Fanteakwa South, and Asene Manso Akroso constituencies.
In the Greater Accra Region, elections in the Shai Osudoku, Bortianor Ngleshie , Ningo Prampram, Ledzekuku, Ayawaso North , Amasaman , and Adentan constituencies have been put on hold.

The elections will also not be held in the Hohoe, and Sogakope constituencies in the Volta Region while those in the Prestea Huni Valley and the Shama constituencies in the Western Region have also been put on hold.
The Jirapa West Constituency is the only constituency affected in the Upper West Region.

The Party’s Functional Executive Committee earlier directed that all elections should be held in one day – either Saturday October 22, 2022 or Sunday, October 23, 2022.

A total of 11, 825 candidates had filed to compete in the elections in the 276 constituencies, including the Santrokofi Akpafu Likpe and Lolobi (SALL) Constituency, which does not have a representation in Parliament yet.
Per the Party’s guidelines, eligible voters would be required to have paid their party dues in full before they would be allowed to cast their votes.

Branch executives and former government appointees of the Party will be eligible to vote in the elections.
The Chairman and Constituency executives are responsible for the venue for the constituency conference, but where there are disagreements, the elections venue “shall” be at the District Capital, the Party, said.

“All constituencies are required to include candidates who have been duly cleared to contest through the appeal process on their ballot papers and exclude candidates who have been disqualified through the appeals process from the ballot papers. Elections will not be held till ballot papers are rectified,” it said in a statement.

The Party cautioned that: “Failure to strictly adhere to this directive will render any election illegal, hence a nullity, and appropriate sanctions will be applied to any person found culpable.”