The New Patriotic Party on the 7th of June, 2023, organised primary to elect a candidate for the upcoming by-election in Assin North constituency after the Supreme Court ordered parliament to expunge the name of Gyakye Quayson from parliament after it was established by the court that he owed allegiance to a country other Ghana only before filing to contest for the 2020 parliamentary election.

The NPP at the close of polls, elected an electrical engineer by name Charles Opoku to lead the party into the the by-election.

The decision to settle on Charles Opoku according to most delegates that were interviewed was because of the fact that Charles Opoku hails from Breku, a suburb of the constituency that has the largest concentration of voters with a total of 13 polling stations.

A critical look at the elections of 2020, indicates that the NDC candidate, Gyakye Quayson won the seat though Nana Addo beat John Mahama in the presidential because Gyakye Quayson who is also from Breku took advantage of him coming from the Breku area to appeal to the conscience of the voters there to vote for him which plea was accepted leading to his victory. It was therefore imperative that as politics is a game of numbers, based on strategic thinking and not wishful thinking, the NPP delegates in the constituency decided to settle on Charles Opoku so that he could fight on the same level with the NDC candidate to neutralize his impact on winning more votes from the Breku area. A visit to the constituency clearly shows that in terms of popularity, the NPP’s candidate is more popular than the NDC’s especially in the Breku area and this makes it a very difficult task for the NDC to retain the seat.

The decision by the NPP delegates in the Assin North constituency is also an indication that NPP delegates in the upcoming primaries for the flagbearership race, will be looking forward to electing a candidate who will be able to garner more votes from the strong hold of the NPP. It therefore makes it an easy decision as to who amongst the eleven personalities that have picked forms will be able to lead the NPP into increasing its votes from the strong hold and also making gains in swing regions and constituencies.

The answer is not far-fetched and Alan stands tall in this category.The decision by the delegates of Assin North therefore further makes a big statement that the NPP come 4th of November, 2023, will settle on Alan.

By: Solomon Owusu