Can change come to Ningo Prampram?

The Ningo-Prampram constituency is also an administrative district made up of the Great Ningo, and Prampram Traditional Areas in the Greater Accra Region.

The constituency which is bordered to the north by the Shai-Osudoku District and by the west by the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality stretches from parts of Tema Community 25, Mataheko, Afienya, Mobole, Dawhenya, Prampram, Ningo, Tsopoli through to Dawa.

Due to its location on the coastal lines coupled with about 325square kilometres of arable inland, natives of Ningo-Prampram engage mostly in fishing and farming. They cultivate major crops such as rice, maize, watermelon, tomatoes, mango, onion, okra and pepper.

It can boast of receiving six of the factories initiated under the One District One Factory (1D1F) policy of the current government. The controversial Saglema Housing Project, Bundase Military Training Camp, Central University College campus, Dawhenya Irrigation Farm, Ghanaman Soccer Center of Excellence, beach resorts, and the Dawa Industrial City, among others are also located in the constituency. It is to host Ghana’s modern airport city and the ongoing construction of a wind farm.

Communities & Development

The constituency which has Prampram as its district administration capital has a number of underdeveloped communities and villages.

Apart from the Tema-Aflao road that passes through the constituency, as well as the asphalted Prampram and Ningo main roads, there are no proper roads, drainage and sewer system in the communities.

Due to its proximity to the harbour and industrial city of Tema, a number of people have settled in the new developing areas and a large number of estates in the constituency. Some of these communities which are cosmopolitan in nature include Devtraco Courts, parts of P.S. Global, Eagle Nest Estate, Adom Estate, EMEF Estate, Zion Estate, Seaside Estate, and Joe Nartey Estate.

Election History

The Ningo-Prampram Constituency is known to be one of the safest stronghold of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). It has won both presidential and parliamentary elections with huge margins in the area since 1992.

In 1996, the NDC won the Presidential race with 92 per cent while in the years 2000, 2004, and 2008 it garnered 83.0, 77.4 and 80.1 per cents respectively. In the 2012 elections, it won the presidency with 73.7 per cent while that of 2016 saw a little drop to 69.46 per cent.

The story is not different on the parliamentary front as the NDC recorded 83.5, 78.0, 71.7, 71.5, 54.1 and 63.0 per cents respectively in the years 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Election 2020

On Monday December 7, 2020, a total of 95,753 registered voters in the constituency are expected to vote at the 195 polling stations in the area to choose one among the four candidates to represent their interest in Parliament.

They are the incumbent Member of Parliament and NDC candidate, Mr Samuel Nartey George, Mr Alexander Leonel Martey of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Freeborn Kofi Teye for the Ghana Union Movement (GUM) and an independent candidate Mr Angmor Richard Nartey.

Out of the four candidates, the contest can be narrowed to a two-horse race between the firebrand incumbent Mr Sam George and Mr Alex Martey. Interestingly, while Sam George was a Presidential Staffer under the Mahama administration, his contender, Mr Martey is a current presidential staffer in-charge of Special Operations at the operations directory at the Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana.

Alexander Leonel Martey – (NPP)

Mr Martey, is a 45years old native of Prampram who had most of his education in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He holds an HND in Statistics, BSc in Management and MBA from the Swiss Management Centre University.

He is also a professional Administrator and Management Consultant, currently perusing a Chartered Professional Administrator (ChPA) and Chartered Management Consultant (CMC) at the Chartered Institute of Administrators and Management Consultants, Ghana (CIAMC).

Political, he became a card bearing member of the NPP in 1995 and has served as a polling station agent and Tertiary Students Confederacy (Tescon) president among others.


Samuel Nartey George (NDC)

Mr Samuel Nartey George who is popularly known as Sam Gyata George is the incumbent MP who won the seat in 2016 after defeating the longest MP Mr Enoch Teye Mensah in fiercely contested NDC primaries.

The 35-year-old native of Ningo is well known and one of the visible MPs in Parliament holds an LLB and a BSc in Agricultural Engineering.

Before going to Parliament, he worked as a communication specialist at the Office of the President under the then President John Dramani Mahama’s administration. He also worked as an Assistant Director at the office of the Head of Civil Service.

In Parliament, he is a member of the Public Accounts Committee as well as the Communications Committee.

Campaigning

This year’s election campaigning has seen new dynamics due to the challenges and restrictions of large gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both parties are not embarking on the massive rallies that mostly characterized electioneering in Ghana.

House to house campaigning had been intensified by both camps with health walks almost every week across the length and breadth of the constituency. Speakers mount pick-up trucks which have been branded in the various political party colours. They often move throughout the constituency blaring out loud party songs and messages to get the voter's attention.

A number of billboards in varying sizes, as well as posters of both Sam George with his Presidential Candidate, Mr John Dramani Mahama, and Mr Martey with President Akufo-Addo, have sprung up at vantage places in the constituency.

On the part of Mr Martey, party bigwigs especially First lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo who is said to be a native of the constituency, had embarked on a number of visits to the area to campaign for him as she calls for an end to the 28 years of the NDC monopoly of the constituency.

She also presented a pick-up to the candidate to aid in his campaign, while the District Chief Executive of the Ningo-Prampram District Assembly has also assisted with billboards, t-shirt and others. Nene Atiapa Kano III, Mankralo of Ningo and the acting President of the Great Ningo Traditional Area has not been left out of the campaign train as he as severally campaigned for the NPP at every national programme.

Mr Sam George’s camp has also got the privilege of having the NDC’s flagbearer and Ex-president Mahama together with other dignitaries touring the constituency to drum home the need to retain him in power.

Who wins the seat?

Election 2020 promises to be an interesting race in the constituency has been reduced a contest between Ningo and Prampram.

The question is, will the natives of Prampram vote for the NPP candidate who hailed from there just because he is a native? The Prampram natives are known to be typical NDC people who might not shift the goal post, they could, however, reward the NPP with some votes to thank the party for their initiatives such as the Free SHS introduced in its first term.

The NPP could, however, gain some substantial votes from Ningo due to the fact that the First Lady partly hails from there. The acting President of Great Ningo Traditional area believes that their Son-in-law, the President, must reap some benefits because "they have benefitted a lot from the NPP".

Due to the cosmopolitan nature of the new areas and massive registration of non-native residents during the voter registration exercise, the new sprawling communities could decide who will carry the day.

Issues that will occupy these swing voters include road infrastructure and security related issues.

The incumbent MP, Mr Sam George is expected to build upon his victory in 2016 election to retain it for his party. He polled 23,860 votes, posting a difference of 10,272 over the 13,588 votes the then NPP candidate Mr Silvester Tetteh got.

He increased the gap between the NPP and NDC with 6,216 as his predecessor won with 21,178 as against the NPP’s 17,122.

For the NPP to snatch the seat from the NDC, the party must work extra hard to bridge the 10,272 gap from 2016 and subsequently add more votes. That could be a herculean task but not impossible.