The campaign team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Dome Kwabenya, Elikplim Akurugu, has emphasized that nothing in the world can change the victory she has achieved in the 2024 general elections.
According to a statement signed by Benjamin Asante-Nyarko, programmes coordinator for the candidate, the seeming attempt by the Electoral Commission to declare the results of the election in favour of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Aaron Mike Oquaye Jnr, under the guise of a re-collation is not only in contravention of the laws guiding the elections but also impossible on metrics.
“The EC’s declaration of the results on December 8, 2024, was valid and in accordance with CI 127, which designates the returning officer as the authority for declaring parliamentary results. When the EC attempted to re-collate the results on December 21, it was clear that Elikplim Akurugu had won, hence their decision to halt the re-collation process. In a press statement released on that day, December 21, 2024, the Dome Kwabenya NPP acknowledged that 7 out of the 10 electoral areas had been re-collated but remained silent about the candidate leading, knowing very well that the results were not in their favour.
“The district director’s independent collation also confirmed that Akurugu was the winner. No matter what strategies Oquaye Jnr employs, the results from Dome Kwabenya cannot be changed. A candidate who lost abysmally in his own hometown and the electoral area he resides in is claiming to have won the election. How unfortunate!” the statement said.
“Defeat is always difficult to accept, but it is important to handle it with dignity. Oquaye Jnr should learn from his mistakes and work on improving his political approach. Congratulations to Elikplim Akurugu, the elected MP for Dome Kwabenya. As a strong and capable candidate, she has already begun and concluded a thank-you tour of the ten electoral areas in the constituency.
“Her campaign office located at the centre of the constituency, Haatso, will soon become the official office of the Member of Parliament, and she is ready to listen to the concerns of the people of Dome Kwabenya. The voters of Dome Kwabenya have chosen change and proper representation, and this choice must be respected at all times,” it added.
According to the NDC, not only was the NPP candidate a weak match for their candidate, but Aaron Oquaye Jnr showed incompetence in his campaign and rather sought to allegedly rely on his family’s connection with the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Madam Jean Mensa, to advance his quest for the Dome Kwabenya seat.
The Dome Kwabenya and the Okaikwei North seats remain the only outstanding parliamentary seats yet to be declared by the Electoral Commission following the December 7, 2024, presidential and parliamentary elections.
A controversial re-collation exercise held at the Greater Accra Regional Office of the Electoral Commission (EC) on Saturday, December 21, saw four seats, which were initially declared for the NDC, namely Obuasi East, Okaikwei Central, Tema Central, and Techiman South, re-declared in favour of the NPP.
The Obuasi East seat, which was initially declared for NDC’s Samuel Aboagye, was re-declared for NPP’s Patrick Boakye-Yiadom; the Tema Central seat, which was declared for NDC’s Ebi Bright, was re-declared for NPP’s Charles Forson.
Also, the Techiman South seat was re-declared for NPP’s Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah after it had been initially declared for Christopher Beyere Baasongti, and the Okaikwei Central seat was re-declared for NPP’s Dr. Patrick Boamah after it was initially declared for NDC’s Baba Sadiq.
The Nsawam Adoagyiri, Ahafo Ano South West, and Ahafo Ano North constituencies, which were initially incomplete, were also declared in favour of the NPP’s Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Eric Nana Agyeman-Prempeh, and Elvis Osei Mensah Dapaah, respectively.
Two constituencies—Ablekuma North and Dome Kwabenya—are, however, yet to be determined.
For the Ablekuma North constituency, NDC’s Ewurabena Aubynn was declared the winner of the constituency’s seat without the results of 62 polling stations.
The NPP’s candidate for the constituency is Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh, a former MP and the current Deputy Chief Executive of the Coastal Development Authority.
For Dome Kwabenya, NDC’s Elikplim Akurugu was declared the winner of the constituency’s seat, beating NPP’s Mike Oquaye Jnr.
All other factors being equal, the NDC would now have 181 seats in the 9th Parliament, with independent candidates holding 4 seats.
Read the NDC’s full statement on Dome Kwabenya below:
WHY A WORLDWIDE COALITION OF ELECTORAL COMMISSIONS CANNOT EVEN FLIP DOME KWABENYA FOR AARON MIKE OQUAYE JNR.
Defeat is one of the possible outcomes in elections. However, we are always advised to be magnanimous in victory and dignified in defeat. In the just-concluded December presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana, the opposition NDC emerged victorious at both the presidential and parliamentary levels. The results of the December 7th elections clearly showed that Ghanaians wanted change, leading to a historic defeat for the ruling NPP at the presidential level and a complete washout at the parliamentary level.
However, the parliamentary results from some constituencies could not be upheld by the Electoral Commission (EC), which cited issues such as declarations made under duress and declarations in the absence of other candidates, among others. This decision has caused controversy, with many stakeholders questioning the EC’s position, as it seems inconsistent with the law governing the 2024 general elections, particularly CI 127. The affected constituencies include Obuasi East, Ahafo Ano South West, Ahafo Ano North, Nsawam Adoagyiri, Techiman South, Tema Central, Okaikoi Central, Ablekuma North, and Dome Kwabenya.
Among these, the case of Dome Kwabenya is particularly noteworthy. Dome Kwabenya is the largest constituency in Ghana and has been a stronghold of the NPP for years. In fact, for any NPP candidate wishing to represent Dome Kwabenya in Parliament, winning the party’s internal primaries was often enough to secure the seat. Since its creation in 2004, after being carved out of the then Ga North constituency, Dome Kwabenya has been consistently represented by the NPP. The first MP for the area was Aaron Mike Oquaye Snr, whose son, Aaron Mike Oquaye Jnr, is now at the center of the controversy in the constituency.
Aaron Mike Oquaye Jnr had previously contested and lost the NPP primaries in 2012 and 2020 to Sarah Adwoa Safo. His repeated failures to secure the nomination were due to a perception among party delegates that he lacked the qualities necessary to win the seat. His claim to the Dome Kwabenya seat is based largely on his family connection—his father’s tenure as MP—and this has shaped his entire political career. His defeat in the 2024 parliamentary elections came as no surprise to political observers in Dome Kwabenya.
Oquaye Jnr’s performance in the election was abysmal. A closer look at the results from the constituency shows that he lost even in polling stations where he and his family members voted. At Haatso Main Market 2 (Polling Station C060419), where Oquaye Jnr voted, he garnered 166 votes, while his rival Elikplim Akurugu secured 213. The same trend was seen at other polling stations, including Calvary Presby Primary School (Polling Station C060412B), where Oquaye Snr voted, Oquaye Jnr received just 115 votes compared to Akurugu’s 189. Even at Apostolic Church Ghana Haatso Maabey 2 (Polling Station C060407B), where Oquaye Jnr’s wife and siblings voted, he could only manage 123 votes against Akurugu’s 135. It is even believed that his own wife did not vote for him.
In the Haatso electoral area, where Oquaye Jnr resides, Akurugu won 29 polling stations, while Oquaye Jnr only managed to secure 6. The final vote tally from Haatso showed Elikplim Akurugu with 5,789 votes and Oquaye Jnr with 4,745, a difference of 1,044 votes. In his hometown of Adenklebi (Polling Station C060101), Oquaye Jnr received just 55 votes, while Akurugu secured 105. In the Abokobi electoral area, Oquaye Jnr obtained 2,654 votes, while Akurugu received 4,547, a difference of 1,893 votes. With such a poor showing, how can Oquaye Jnr claim to be the rightful winner?
His defeat was no surprise to those familiar with the dynamics of the NPP in Dome Kwabenya. Oquaye Jnr had shown little interest in building a serious campaign. Instead, he relied on the assumption that Dome Kwabenya was a stronghold for the NPP and that he could simply win by default. His arrogance and divisive actions during the campaign alienated key groups within the constituency. He totally ignored the very influential Kristo Asafo group in Taifa. While Elikplim Akurugu worked hard to unite the NDC base and even sought support from former NDC PCs in Dome Kwabenya, Oquaye Jnr focused on internal NPP conflicts, attacking his own party’s incumbent MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo. Oquaye Jnr’s failure to connect with voters and his ineffective campaign are widely seen as the main reasons for his defeat. He later claimed that the results were invalid due to chaos and violence at the collation center. However, it is clear that his agents were present when the process began. When they realized that their candidate was absent and unable to motivate them, they chose to leave. His agents will later describe him as an uninspiring and a de motivational candidate. In sharp contrast Elikplim Akurugu remained at the collation center throughout the two-day process, working hard to safeguard her victory.
Despite his complaints, all NPP supporters in Dome Kwabenya know that Oquaye Jnr lost. Even the incumbent NPP MP for the constituency Sarah Adwoa Safo admitted this in a recent interview. Oquaye Jnr’s attempt to have the results overturned is seen by many as an effort to exploit his family’s connection to the current EC Chair, Jean Adukwei Mensa. In fact, just days before the December 7th election, Madam Jean Adukwei Mensa signed a letter transferring the Ga East District Director for the Electoral Commission, Janet Koranteng, and replacing her with Mr. Kwofie Annan, who was reportedly tasked with helping Oquaye Jnr retain the seat, regardless of the election outcome.
The EC’s declaration of the results on December 8th, 2024, was valid and in accordance with CI 127, which designates the Returning Officer as the authority for declaring parliamentary results. When the EC attempted to re-collate the results on December 21st, it was clear that Elikplim Akurugu had won hence their decision to halt the recollation process. In a press statement released on that day, 21st December 2024, the Dome Kwabenya NPP acknowledged that 7 out of the 10 electoral areas had been re-collated but remained silent about the candidate leading, knowing very well that the results were not in their favor.
The District Director’s independent collation also confirmed that Akurugu was the winner. No matter what strategies Oquaye Jnr employs, the results from Dome Kwabenya cannot be changed. A candidate who lost abysmally in his own hometown and the electoral area he resides is claiming to have won the election. How unfortunate!
Defeat is always difficult to accept, but it is important to handle it with dignity. Oquaye Jnr should learn from his mistakes and work on improving his political approach. Congratulations to Elikplim Akurugu, the elected MP for Dome Kwabenya. As a strong and capable candidate, she has already begun and concluded a thank-you tour of the ten electoral areas in the constituency. Her campaign office located at the center of the constituency- Haatso will soon become the official office of the Member of Parliament, and she is ready to listen to the concerns of the people of Dome Kwabenya. The voters of Dome Kwabenya have chosen change and proper representation, and this choice must be respected at all times.
Signed Benjamin Asante-Nyarko
(Programmes Coordinator for Elikplim Akurugu MP Elect – Dome-Kwabenya – 0243164932)
GA
Watch some videos from the recent Parliamentary sittings below:
