Tema East was a hard win, maintain it with Ashai Odamtten - NDC Executives

Some National Democratic Congress (NDC) executives in the Tema West constituency of the Greater Accra Region have added their voices to calls asking that the party shelve Parliamentary primaries in Tema East and let the incumbent MP go unopposed.

In a statement released Wednesday in Accra, the Tema West executives reiterated reasons already put out by their Tema East counterparts for Isaac Ashai Odamtten to be retained.

“We are totally agreeable to the observation that holding a Parliamentary primary in Tema East will be a waste of money because Hon. Ashai Odamtten will easily win, however, beyond this, it is absolutely important that we all contribute to efforts to protect the one constituency in the whole of Tema that the NDC has,” the statement said.

The statement was signed by Mr. Kofi Mensah, a thoroughbred party man, on behalf of the executives of the constituency.

It is coming in the wake of a similar call by executives of the Tema East constituency branch of the party who have vowed to vote skirt and blouse if the national leadership of the party do not ensure that Isaac Ashai Odamtten is not re-elected for 2024.

Prior to the vow by the Tema East Constituency executives, Senior Prelate of Faith Chapel International, Apostle Dr. Eric Emefa Agbogedenu had been the first to make the call for Ashai Odamtten to be maintained by the NDC, citing his outstanding performance in office.

The Tema Metropolis has three constituencies – Tema West, Tema Central and Tema East – and all of the three have for a long time been dominated by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

This was the case until 2020 when Isaac Ashai Odamtten burst onto the scene and unseated the NPP’s MP for Tema East, Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus Glover.

“When you have a bird in hand, you don’t put it back on a tree and then go and set up a trap again. You keep it. We are asking our party’s national leadership to keep this bird in hand by canceling any plans to hold parliamentary primaries in Tema East,” the statement said.

It said, “This will save us from wasting precious resources that we can use to fund the 2024 national elections itself.”

For those who think that not holding primaries will be disrespectful to the constitution, the executives pointed out that, “The law was made for man and not man for the law.”
Meanwhile, the executives have thanked Apostle Dr. Dr. Eric Emefa Agbogedenu for initiating the first conversation on the matter.