Accra: Madam Ewurabena Aubyn, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary aspirant for Ablekuma North, has won the seat after the rerun of 19 polling stations on Friday.
According to Ghana News Agency, the rerun, organised by the Electoral Commission (EC), brought an end to a month-long electoral dispute stemming from the December 7, 2024, general elections, which had left the constituency without a Member of Parliament. After collating all the results from all the 281 polling stations, Madam Aubyn polled a total of 34,090 valid votes cast. Her contender, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, polled 33,881 votes, with a total of 411 rejected ballots.
Friday's rerun was largely peaceful except for pockets of violence recorded in some polling stations, including an alleged assault on Madam Mavis Hawa Koomson, a former Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, by a journalist with GH One Television. The Police have since interdicted the officer alleged to have assaulted the journalist.
The Ablekuma North Constituency has been in existence since 1992. Areas under the jurisdiction of Ablekuma North include Kwashieman, Hong Kong, Kokompe, Darkuman, Nyamekye, and parts of Dansoman. Apart from 1992, when the National Democratic Congress' candidate, Adam Baako Nortey Yeboah, clinched the seat for the first time, the NPP has enjoyed a monopoly of the seat for close to three decades.
The NPP's Kwamena Bartels snatched the seat from the NDC in 1996 and retained it for three consecutive terms until 2008. Another NPP candidate, Justice Joe Appiah, took the baton and won two consecutive elections in 2008 and 2012. In 2016, Nana Afriyie maintained the NPP's dominance and secured the seat but could only do that for one term. In a surprising turn of events, Sheila Bartels won the primaries and proceeded to win the seat in the 2020 elections.
Friday's victory marks a historic milestone for the NDC in a constituency long considered a stronghold of the NPP. The latest victory will increase the number of NDC MPs to 184, achieving a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
