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In a rather interesting twist of events in the Klottey Korle Constituency of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Lawyer Philip Addison, who lost in a previous primary in August 2015, shockingly triumphed over Nii Noi Nortey, who beat him by a landslide in an earlier primary that was nullified.
Below is an analysis of the probable reasons why Addison defeated Nii Nortey
Results of previous primary
Nii Noi Nortey – 393 votes
Philip Addison – 22 votes
Nii Adjei Tawiah – 19
Rejected ballots unknown
Critical Facts about previous primary
- Philip Addison boycotted the poll.
- He boycotted on grounds that the voting day wasn’t favourable.
- Some constituency executives [believed to be in Nii Noi’s camp] ignored his complaints and went ahead with the primary.
- Philip Addison’s supporters, who are supposedly delegates didn’t vote.
- He went to court with Nii Adjei Tawiah, the other contestant.
- National executives of the NPP tried an out of court settlement but failed.
- Eventually, a court ruling although unclear, meant that a re-run was inevitable
Facts about Saturday’s re-run
- Nii Noi Nortey had vowed not to participate in the re-run
- Nii Noi Nortey later accepted to contest
- He was overly confident he will win given that he won the previous one
- Nii Adjei Tawiah, the other contender, withdrawn from the race to support Mr. Addison
- Mr. Addison was much more confident because in his view, his supporters were poised to vote.
- His confidence was also boosted because some disgruntled members of Nii Noi’s camp, had switched to his camp.
- Addison said those who defected to his side were angry because Nii Noi did not fulfil promises he made to them after the previous primary.
- Nii Noi did not deny the claim that some of his members had defected to Addison’s camp.
- Nii Noi rather said it was “naïve” for Addison to think that the defection of some of his members to his camp, gave him an advantage.
- The re-run was peacefully and fairly conducted with adequate security and vigilance
- Nortey did not raise any issue about the eligibility of all delegates who voted
- Total registered delegates were 790
- Only 765 people voted
- Philip Addison had 396
- Nii Noi Nortey had 367
- Only two votes were rejected
The difference in results in both elections
- Only 434 votes were cast in previous election; but the rejected ballots are unknown
- This means that, there was an increase of 331 in the number that voted today [Saturday], and they were all eligible.
Final analysis
- The aforementioned also means that, Addison’s claim that more delegates, presumably his supporters, did not vote in the boycotted previous primary is true.
- Addison increased his 22 votes in the previous election, by adding 374 more votes in today’s [Saturday] election.
Conclusion
- If indeed, Nii Adjei Tawiah, who pulled out to back Addison convinced his supporters to vote for Addison, then his votes of 19 from the previous election, also shot up Addison’s votes today [Saturday].
- Nii Noi Nortey’s votes of 393 from the previous primary, decreased by 26 votes in the re-run.
- This means that, his campaign members who defected to Addison’s camp may have decreased his votes, and subsequently swelled up Addison’s votes.
- From the analysis above, it would seem that, the loser of today’s [Saturday] primary, Nii Noi Nortey, who refused to sign the declaration form of the Electoral Commission after the results were announced, has no tangible reason to dispute the outcome.
- Nii Noi Nortey did not raise any objections during the re-run of the primary, yet he failed to sign, although he was not coerced to participate in the election which he felt he had won convincingly and fairly in the previous poll.
- Clearly, Nii Noi Nortey was complacent and over-confidence of victory
Will Noi Noi Nortey contest the results?
Citi News is picking reports that Nii Noi Nortey is speaking to his lawyers to possibly contest the outcome. It is however unclear on what basis he would be going to court.
Will he go independent?
Although Nii Noi Nortey is yet to speak on his next line of action, his supporters say they will convince him to run as an Independent Candidate in the November poll.
Any of the two above options he chooses, could mean that the NPP’s chances in the constituency would be limited, giving the NDC an upper hand in the election.
NDC’s dilemma
Coincidentally, the NDC in the same Constituency is also faced with a difficulty of who leads the party in the November polls.
The daughter of former President Rawlings, Dr. Zanetor Rawlings, who was elected in the party’s November primary, is being challenged in court by the incumbent MP, Nii Armah Ashietey.
Mr. Ashietey says Dr. Zanetor Rawlings was not qualified to contest the poll since she’s not a registered Ghanaian voter as the Constitution prescribes.
Klottey Korle a swing seat
The Klottey Korle seat has been won twice by the NPP in 1996 and 2000, before it lost it to the NDC’s Nii Armah Ashietey, the incumbent MP.
This means, any of the parties could win the seat depending on their ability to settle their differences and forge ahead united with a strong campaign
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By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AfanyiDadzie
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