Ada East Constituency NDC chairman retains seat in a keenly contested election

The Ada East Constituency Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Emmanuel Tetteh Kabu has been re-elected to lead the party in the constituency for another four-year term. The keenly contested elections, which were conducted peacefully, also saw changes in some executive positions as delegates elected new officers to help steer the affairs of the party.

The fierce contest ended peacefully and orderly, despite earlier intelligence reports suggesting the possibility of clashes among supporters of some candidates contesting some key executive positions. Security was tight at the election centre, with a heavy deployment of police personnel, including officers from the Tema Regional Police Command, to maintain law and order throughout the exercise.

A total of 1,047 delegates participated in the polls, voting for 60 candidates who contested 17 executive positions. According to Mr. Emmanuel Davor, Director of Elections and IT of the Ada Constituency, the process was smooth, adding that there were no challenges at all. ‘This process is going faster than the previous one because we have two set-ups, unlike the previous election where we had only one setup so it’s making the process very fast this time round’, Mr. Davor explained. He added that even though the number of delegates has increased considerably, the two polling system initiative has made the process very fast, while describing the entire election exercise as very peaceful.

The Ada East Electoral Commission (EC) Director, Mr. Joshua Asiedu, subsequently declared Mr. Emmanuel Tetteh Kabu re-elected as constituency chairman for another four-year term. He polled 527 votes to beat three other contestants in the race. They were Messrs Lawrence Lomotey Sewu, Noah Dogah and Anthony Primo Paragio who bagged 424, 31 and 14 votes respectively.

In his post-election remarks, Mr. Kabu pledged to sustain what he described as his diligent and selfless leadership to strengthen the party’s structures and secure victory for the NDC in the 2028 general elections. He also pledged to use his victory to further advance the development of the Ada East district or constituency.

The newly elected Constituency Organizer, Mr. Theophilus Tetteh Ocansey, spoke to our news team about his election and the party’s plans for the constituency in particular and Ghanaians in general. According to him, he would use his experience to move the party and its achievements to another level. He gave the assurance that government would work very hard to deliver on its campaign promises to the people. According to Mr. Ocansey, the Women’s Bank would come on stream, developments in the health, education and other sectors would continue while the economy would also continue to receive stability as has been done so far for the benefit of the people.

Some of the contestants spoke with our newsteam in separate interviews. One of them was the outgone Constituency Communication Officer, Mr. Lawrence Lomotey Sewu who contested the chairmanship position in the elections. According to him, he joined the chairmanship race to bring a new form of leadership to the constituency. ‘You see, we are not having development in our area and I think it’s due to leadership crisis. So, I contested to help the current leaders so that the little that I know, I will add up to them so that we can develop the area’, Mr. Sewu explained.

The former Communication Officer noted that the youth are running away from leadership positions due to intimidations and all manner of frustrations including the fact that they are not being inspired by anybody. Mr. Sewu pledged to change the narrative in the coming years so that the youth would not only be inspired but also encouraged to take their destiny into their own hands.  

The outgone Deputy Organizer, Hon. Thomas K. Shiamatey moved a step up to contest the ultimate Organizer position in the elections. He however lost narrowly to his closest contender with just 17 votes. Mr. Theohilus Tetteh Ocansey polled 357 votes to beat Mr. Thomas K. Shiamatey and Mr. Ofori Glah who recorded 340 and 299 votes respectively.

Speaking to our newsteam in an interview, Hon. Shiamatey noted that the difference between this election and the previous ones is that this election was very peaceful, well organised and undertaken in a very conducive atmosphere. He congratulated all the contestants for the race, emphasising that from the elections’ outcome, there were no winners or any losers, adding that it was purely an internal contest and should be seen as such.

‘Beyond this election, I’m expecting a change in Ada because Ada has suffered a lot and all we want is development and a good place to live at. In this election, there’s no winner, there’s no loser because this is an internal election for NDC. At the end of the day, we have NPP to fight with so that is how it is going to be’, Mr. Shiamatey pointed out.