Upper East Parliamentary Aspirants File Constituency Primaries

Bolgatanga, April 13, (Issahaq), GNA - The filing of nominations by parliamentary aspirants for party primaries ended officially last Tuesday, April 10 in Bolgatanga.

The GNA was at the NPP camp to find out how the registration went for the party.

It came out that candidates had filed their nominations in 11 constituencies out of the total 13 in the Upper East Region, with the exception of Builsa North and Navrongo Central where there are sitting NPP Members of Parliament (MP).

The patterns that have emerged so far portray an intense competition in most of the Constituencies.

Names that have come out so far include Mr. Andrew Awuni, the Press Secretary to President J.A. Kufuor, who is vying for the Bongo Parliamentary seat. The District Chief Executive, Mr. Francis Akurugu, has also filed for that seat.

Mr. Moses Appiah, DCE for Bawku West has filed for the Zebilla parliamentary seat, which is also being contested by Mr. Mahami Salifu, former Upper East Regional Minister. Madam Mary Adukuma, mother in-law of the legendary Abedi Pele, who contested but lost the Talensi seat to the NDC in the 2004 election, has filed again and there is a strong feeling that her chances would be brighter this time round.

The reason being that Mr. George Mosoore of the Tema Oil Refinery and an equally popular native of the area, whose loss of the primaries to Madam Adukuma last time was believed to have ruined the latter's chances in the parliamentary poll, has indicated he would not file for the 2008 election.

The Regional Minister, Mr. Boniface Gambila, is vying for the Nabdam seat, while Alhaji Awudu Yirimeah, his Deputy, is going for the Bawku Central primaries.

Other names that have come up include Mr. David Samari for the Garu-Tempane primaries and Mr. Martin Alechima for Chiana-Paga. History would be made in the Bolgatanga Central seat, which for sometime now has been the preserve of the People's National Convention (PNC), if ongoing speculations about Mr. Joe Ameyure, an influential pillar in the PNC camp, switching camp to stand on NPP ticket in the constituency comes true.

Fact is that three communities, namely Sumbrungu, Sherigu and Bolgatanga are very crucial for winning the Bolgatanga Central seat. Mr. Ameyure is believed to be very popular with the people in these communities and has been the secret of the PNC's victories in the Bolgatanga constituency.

The NPP Regional Organiser, Mr. Mahmuud Mahama, told the GNA that the Party was poised to snatch those seats hitherto considered as the preserve of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Region in next year's Parliamentary election.

"We have identified the mistakes we made in 2004, and we have taken steps to correct those mistakes," said Mr. Mahama.