NDC Opens Nominations For Late Agyarko’s Seat

The National Democratic Congress has communicated to it’s members as a matter of urgency opening of nominations for the vacant Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary seat.

It has consequently given interested persons today December 17 and December 18 to pick up nomination forms at the cost of 1,000 cedis between 9:00am to 5:00pm each day.

According to a statement signed by the General Secretary of the party, Persons interested in contesting for the seat are expected to file their nomination by Friday with the hopefuls undergoing vetting on Saturday 22nd Dec. 2018.

The Opposition party further indicated that, election will be held on Friday 28th December 2018 to choose a candidate who will lead the NDC into the by-elections.

“The cost of the nomination forms and filing fees as provided for in Section D subsection 2 and 3 of the Guidelines for the Parliamentary primaries is GHC1,000 (One thousand Ghana Cedis) and GHC10,000 (Ten Thousand Ghana CediS) respectively, with a 50% discount of Filing fees for females and persons with Disability,” the statement indicates.

The Ayawaso West Wuogon seat was left vacant after its MP, Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko passed away in November after an illness.

Following his death, some constituents rallied around his two wives as worthy successors to the late MP.

Supporters massed up at the NPP’s headquarters on Monday to present a petition demanding that one Lydia Alhassan Agyarko, Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko’s second wife, be allowed to stand for the position.

The second group of supporters also rallied for another woman, who was the wife of the late MP, Josephine Nana Baiden Agyarko, to contest the seat.

Lydia Alhassan Agyarko has since come out to say she has never been interested in contesting for the seat her husband occupied before his death

She said several party members had suggested that she considers contesting, but she has asked for time to mourn her husband first.

As a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko had been the MP for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency since 2012, after he replaced the current Chief of Staff, Frema Opare as MP for the area.

A pharmacist by profession, he was once the Chief Executive of the Food and Drugs Authority, under the Kufuor government.

In Parliament, he served on the Environment, Science and Technology Committee, chaired the Government Assurance Committee, and also served on the Health Committee.