The KMA had earlier failed to elect a PM when two contestants, Nana Owusu Apeasa II and Nana Kofi Senya, were unable to secure the needed votes to occupy the position after two polls. Both men had failed to secure the needed votes and plans were underway for the Electoral Commission to organize another election, after which the two contestants would step aside if either of them failed to garner the needed votes.
Nana Apease, who is the chief of Adubinso, won the first polls with a wider margin of 93 votes as against the 48 votes polled by Nana Senya but the EC could not declare him winner because he could not attain the stipulated two-thirds of the total votes cast.
The two contestants and their associates were seen seriously lobbying the 156-member Electoral College to vote for them in the second round. But from all indications, nothing different could have happened in the second round. At that juncture, Nana Akwasi Agyemang stormed the Prempeh Assembly Hall, the venue for the polls, to a rapturous applause by the assembly members and all those present at the occasion.
He immediately engaged in serious talks with the two contestants, after which Nana Senya stepped down. Announcing his withdrawal from the polls, Nana Senya, a former PM of the assembly, said, “I have utmost respect for Nana Akwasi Agyemang so I cannot refuse his request to me to step down.”
He congratulated Nana Apeasa for giving him a good run for his money and prayed his supporters to vote massively for the Adubinso chief to enable the KMA to develop Kumasi. The EC, consequently, organized a ‘yes and no’ election on Nana Apeasa which he won with 132 votes, representing 83.5percent, with 14 rejected votes.
The Ashanti Regional Electoral Officer, Kofi Asumaning, declared Nana Apeasa II as the winner of the election and this was greeted with wild shouts from all present including some chiefs. The newly-elected PM thanked his challenger for the honour done him, calling for total unity among the assembly members to transform Kumasi.
Nana Akwasi Agyemang, the hero of the day, was once again greeted with rapturous applause from all present as he mounted the podium to give his address. He entreated the assembly members to rally behind the PM and the KMA boss to transform Kumasi to make Otumfuo Osei Tutu II happy. The KMA boss, Samuel Sarpong, heaped praises on Nana Agyemang for his timely intervention.
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