Electoral Commission Trains Staff for Akwatia By-Election

Akwatia: The Electoral Commission has conducted a five-day training workshop for voting operations staff in Akwatia ahead of the September 2 by-election to fill a vacant parliamentary seat. The Eastern Regional Office of the Electoral Commission spearheaded the workshop for presiding officers, returning officers, verification officers, polling station officials, and the technical team.According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. John Appiah Baffoe, Eastern Regional Director of the Commission, stated that the training was designed to ensure that electoral procedures were followed on election day. The by-election is necessitated by the death of Mr. Ernest Yaw Kumi, the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, who won the seat in the 2024 parliamentary election but passed away on July 7, 2025.Mr. Baffoe also mentioned that materials, including parliamentary ballot papers, ballot boxes, and biometric verification devices, were ready for dispatch to the 119 polling stations in the constituency. He noted that the constituency had 52,328 registered voters and three parliamentary candidates contesting the seat. The candidates are Mr. Bernard Bediako Baidoo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Asumadu Solomon of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and Mr. Patrick Owusu of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG). Voting is expected to begin at 0700 and end at 1700 hours.Mr. Baffoe reminded voters to bring their voter identification cards to the polling stations on election day. Madam Evelyn Korang, Council of State Member for the Eastern Region, urged all contesting parties to conduct themselves peacefully before and after the election. She also called on security agencies to exercise caution in handling election-related matters to maintain peace and order.