The National Organizer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye has described the New Patriotic Party’s defeat in the Assin North by-election as a loud democratic statement by the people of Assin North.
Nana B, as he is affectionately called, said the NPP had worked so hard to win the seat from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), but the people in the constituency exercised their constitutional rights and decided to retain James Gyakye Quayson whom the Supreme Court ordered Parliament to expunge his name from its records in a ruling on May 17.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi TV and Citi FM, Mr. Boakye indicated that the NDC’s victory in the by-election is nothing unusual but just a case of Ghana’s democratic growth.
“Democracy spoke loudly on the day; you go to one by-election and you win overwhelmingly and then you go to one by-election and you have lost is not that much of a bad thing but the projection that the victory is a loud statement for the NDC in the 2024 elections is laughable because are they saying the Kumawu seat is also a loud statement for the NPP.”
He also intimated that same projections were made about the Kumawu by-election with some political watchers even predicting a defeat for the NPP but the party went into the by-election and won with a bigger margin.
“Political watchers said they were expecting a low turnout in Kumawu because of the prevailing economic challenges, they were even expecting the NPP to be defeated, but that did not materialise.”
“It is a wake-up call for the NPP. We committed ourselves to put a strong campaign in Assin North but the people spoke on the day and they spoke loudly for Gyakye Quayson,” Mr. Boakye added.