The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has chosen the Akwatia constituency treasurer, Solomon Asumadu, as its candidate for the Akwatia by-election.
According to reports, the NPP decided against holding a primary for the upcoming Akwatia by-election.
The Eastern Regional Chairman of the NPP, Jeff Konadu Addo, stated, “The National Council of the party set up a committee and we were tasked to find out who could be our candidate or whether we will do primaries or not.
So, the team went to Akwatia in the constituency, had a lot of engagement with the grassroots, electoral area coordinators, polling station officers, chiefs, opinion leaders, and the majority of the people said that for primaries, we should take it out. We shouldn’t conduct primaries in Akwatia. And that’s exactly what we followed”.
Mr Addo added, “We commissioned a search, people went into the constituency and gave them all the names that had expressed interest. In this case, Honourable Amase, Lawyer Wiredu, Kwame Asumadu, Daniel Nyame, and Osei Appiah. And we gave them these names to go into the constituency, in the villages, in the towns, to throw out these names to come back and report to us who the suitable person could be. And to cut a long story short, when it came, the party saw that they had settled on Kwame Asumadu Solomon.”
“And so we reported back to the council. And the council also gave us the go-ahead to engage further and to follow the due process to do a popular acclamation for Kwame Asumadu in the constituency. Today marks the official announcement of Kwame Asumadu as our candidate for the Akwatia constituency by-election,” he said.
It will be recalled that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Eastern Regional Executive Committee debunked claims that Mrs. Mavis Kumi will contest for the Akwatia vacant seat.
The Eastern Regional NPP Chairman, Jeff Konadu Addo, in a press release on July 15, labelled the campaign flyers as fake, deceptive, and deserving of the utmost contempt.
According to the NPP, the party has been in touch with the wife, and she has not made her position clear not to contest.
Part of the statement read, “We wish to categorically state that this information is false, misleading, and should be treated with the utmost contempt it deserves.
She has unequivocally communicated that she has no interest in contesting the seat or participating in active politics at this time. Her current focus… is to mourn her husband with dignity and in peace”.
“Misinformation of this nature only adds pain to an already grieving family… such conduct must be strongly discouraged,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the ruling party, NDC, will be holding primaries to contest the Akwatia seat as three aspirants picked up nomination forms for the Akwatia primaries.
The three aspirants include former Member of Parliament, Henry Boakye; Bernard Bediako Baidoo, the current NDC Akwatia Constituency Secretary; and Erasmus Koney Ali.
According to the party’s guidelines, the three applicants will file nominations by the close of Wednesday, July 30, after which they will also be vetted on Thursday, July 31.
The NDC Akwatia primaries are slated for Monday, August 4, 2025.
Meanwhile, Ernest Kumi passed away on Monday, July 7, 2025.
Ernest Kumi was serving as a first-term member of parliament after his victory in the 2024 elections.
The lawmaker’s death came just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned his contempt conviction related to the disputed 2024 parliamentary election results.
The Akwatia parliamentary seat was later declared vacant.
Ghana’s Article 112(5) of the 1992 constitution states that whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk of Parliament notifies the Electoral Commission in writing within seven days.
A by-election is then held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred, except that where the vacancy occurred through the death of a member, the by-election shall be held within sixty days after the occurrence of the vacancy.
The 112(5) added that a by-election shall not be held within three months before the holding of a general election.
See the post below:
NPP decides against holding a primary for upcoming Akwatia by-election; announces constituency treasurer Solomon Asumadu as its candidate#JoyNews pic.twitter.com/XtZrOXdCL7
— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) July 28, 2025
