Politics of Tuesday, 3 September 2019

Source: Daniel Kaku

NDC Polls: 'I will continue to make Ellembelle a no-go-area for NPP' - Armah Buah

NDC Parliamentary elect for Ellembelle constituency, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah NDC Parliamentary elect for Ellembelle constituency, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah

Following his landslide victory chalked on Saturday's parliamentary primaries, the Member of Parliament for Ellembelle constituency in Western Region, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah has declared the area as a no go area for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).

He said he will leave no stone unturned in regulating the legislative governance of Ellembelle as a lawmaker.

This statement follows threats given by the NPP to annex the seat in 2020.

Meanwhile, the NDC stalwart, who has become one of the towering figures of the party nationally, said the party will squeeze the NPP out of the competition in 2020.

"We will continue to make Ellembelle a no go area for the NPP" he declared as he received rapturous applause from the teaming supporters of the party.

Over one thousand delegates who voted during Saturday's parliamentary primaries overwhelmingly endorsed the candidature of the former Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, who is the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP).

He polled Nine hundred and ninety-three (993) votes to beat Mieza Alleah-Mea, a staff of Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) in the elections supervised by Ellembelle District Electoral Commission Officer, Stephen Aidoo, .

In his victory speech, Armah Kofi-Buah assured the party of his commitment to unite the rank and file ahead of the 2020 general elections.



He recalled the hard work showcased throughout his tenure as the legislator of the area and the characteristic role played by the leadership of the party in the constituency.

He promised another resounding victory for the NDC and Presidential candidate of the party John Dramani Mahama in 2020.

He gracefully welcomed Mieza Alleah-Mea into the political department in Ellembelle.

The defeated candidate who is currently a branch chairman at Nkroful came into the political picture for the first time in 2016, but was disqualified on grounds of petitions filed against him by members of the party for improper endorsement of his nomination forms.

Despite this shortcoming, the beleaguered candidate bounced back to pick nomination forms to contest the parliamentary primaries again in 2019 ahead of 2020, and was once again disqualified by the party's vetting committee for securing the signatures and endorsement of delegates without their consent.

The drama over his serial disqualification on same grounds over same issues however ended when the Functional Executive Committee of the NDC decided to bend the rules and cleared him to contest the sitting MP who was going into the race for the fourth time.

Unfortunately, his attempt to unseat the MP rather fell below the electoral mark despite an initial hype by his supporters who were beaming with smiles, and courage, hoping against any consternation.

The joy of the opposition was however cut short by the landslide victory decisively offered the former Minister of petroleum.

Before the polls, many of the delegates had signalled he was their last bet following the level of achievements chalked within the period that he served as the lawmaker of the NDC.

For many of the delegates, there was no better person to offer true leadership in the constituency than the current MP who has been credited for many infrastructure development projects which cut across all important sectors of the economy.

His laudable achievements in government, members of the party noted, were also visible in the power and petroleum sectors when he served as Deputy Minister of Energy, Energy Minister and subsequently Minister of Petroleum in the administrations of Professor John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama respectively.

These achievements include development of the country's gas Master plan, the establishment of Ghana National Gas Company, the solution secured for the power sector hitherto under extreme difficulties, mass rural electrification, first lawmaker to introduce Mobile Health Care system, one of the first cabinet Ministers from Nzema, among other visible achievements.

The MP has won several awards, received international and local recognitions for achieving all the above laurels.