NPP Primaries: Weija-Gbawe delegates 'clash' over choice of candidate

The New Patriotic Party’s delegates in the Weija-Gbawe constituency are currently divided over the candidate to present them in the 2024 parliamentary election.

While some say it is not safe to introduce a new candidate barely seven months to the elections, others believe that a new candidate can easily win the parliamentary seat because the constituents have lost faith in the incumbent Member of Parliament.

This is likely to make the January 27 primaries between Madam Tina Gifty Naa Ayele Mensa, the MP, and Jerry Ahmed Shaib, the Chief Executive Officer of the Coastal Development Authority, a very hot one.

Patrick Baidoo, a Polling Station Chairman, New Gbawe Electoral Area, is one of those who think the incumbent MP should be maintained.

According to him, the incumbent, since she took over the party, has increased the party’s votes in the general elections.

He said in 2020, while the votes for the presidential candidate reduced drastically, that of Madam Tina rather increased.

He said this was a testament to the fact that the incumbent MP was the preferred choice of the delegates and the party.

“The sitting MP is the best candidate for 2024. We have about seven months to the election day so if you bring a new candidate, how are you going to market the person? Even where the party is standing now is not the best so if you bring new candidate, you won’t even have the time to market the person,” he said.

Baidoo said that the MP, aside from securing more votes for the party in previous elections, had also undertaken a lot of developmental works in the constituency.

“When it comes to physical development like roads, schools, hospitals and human development such as employment and helping women with capital, she does all that. Every year, she buys educational materials like a mathematical set, and desk and even pays a teacher motivation allowance.

“So, if the party wants a candidate that is marketable, I am sure they know that the sitting MP is our best bet,” he said.

“When you are marketing a candidate, you need to show pragmatic traits; like this person has done this, what the person has done that. If you bring a new person, he has not done anything for the community. There is nothing that you can say he has done so what are you going to tell the people?”

He also noted that the MP would be able to lobby for more jobs for the constituents since she was an experienced legislator.

He advised his colleague delegates to consider the general elections and vote for a candidate who can win the parliamentary seat for the NPP in the December polls.

However, Papa Kwame, an Electoral Area Coordinator, thinks that Ahmed Shaib is the best candidate to lead the constituency.

He said many of the NPP constituents were fed up with the incumbent due to her poor performance with regard to development in the constituency.

He said the party was likely to lose the seat to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) if it did not present a new candidate.

“A candidate who is very marketable and who can win the election is Jerry Ahmed Shaib. The grounds are not fertile for our MP. Most of the constituents in my area do not want to hear her name because they feel she has underperformed,” he said.

He, therefore, called on his colleagues who would vote in the primaries to vote massively for Ahmed Shaib.

The Constituency

The Weija-Gbawe constituency is one of the three constituencies carved out of the then-Weija constituency ahead of the 2012 general elections. The other two constituencies are Anyaa-Sowutuom and Bortianor-Ngleshie.

After the demarcations, the NPP’s Rosemond Comfort Abrah emerged as the winner with 32,861 votes representing 53.59 percent. The NDC’s Obuobia Darko-Opoku came second with 26,899 votes while Jessica Simpson of the PPP came third with 739 votes.

In 2016, Madam Tina Mensah who was the NPP’s parliamentary candidate, won the seat. She polled 34,216 votes representing 57.29 percent while the NDC’s Obuobia polled 25, 087 votes representing 42.00 percent.

The NPP’s candidate retained her seat in the 2020 elections by polling 46,857, representing 58.08 percent while the NDC’s candidate, Nii Ayaa Ayison, polled 32,218 votes, representing 39.92 percent.