Catherine Ablema Afeku
Information DAILY GUIDE has gathered indicates that Member of Parliament (MP) elect for Evalue Jomoro-Gwira constituency in the Western Region, Catherine Ablema Afeku would head the Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts Ministry under the new government that would be sworn in on Saturday January 7, 2017.
According to sources within the NPP, the MP-elect who was an MP from 2009-2012 but lost after the 2012 parliamentary election was most likely to become the next Tourism Minister who would take over from the outgoing, Mrs. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare.
Catherine Afeku was one of the prolific female Members of Parliament in the 4th Republic Parliament from 2009-2012 after winning the seat in the 2008 parliamentary elections.
She stood in a predominantly CPP zone in the Nzema area but shocked observers and analysts by becoming the first person ever to win parliamentary seat in the Nzema area on the NPP/UP/PP ticket.
She continued to impress with her stellar performance in Parliament and made several meaningful contributions on the floor and served on Committees that were typically dominated by her male colleagues.
She served on three Committees in Parliament. They included the Road and Transport Committee, the Communications Committee as the Deputy Ranking Member and the Business Committee.
She also became the Government Spokesperson for infrastructure during the regime of President John Agyekum Kufuor.
She earned the admiration of the media and the general public with her delivery on the national television and other media outlets.
After losing the 2012 parliamentary election to the NDC candidate, Mrs Afeku decided to come back and represent her people in Parliament again.
Mrs Afeku, determined to win back the seat, worked hard to ensure victory for the NPP in the Evalue Jomoro-Gwira constituency in the 2016 general election.
She was one of the two female parliamentary candidates who contested last year’s parliamentary elections in the Western Region and she secured the nod to represent her constituents in Parliament.
She polled 14,002 votes to defeat the incumbent National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament, Kweku Tanikyi Kessie, who polled 12,416 votes.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi
