‘Accra propaganda not reality in Asokwa’ – KT Hammond gets the last laugh

NPP MP for Adansi-Asokwa constituency, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has had the last laugh in party primaries where he said there was a grand scheme to have him kicked out.

“The propaganda in Accra is not the reality on the ground in Asokwa”, the MP, buoyed up by the spoils of victory, said in an interview on Citi TV, monitored by theghanareport.com.

Effectively, K.T Hammond is set for a record fifth term in parliament.

The seat is an NPP stronghold and 236 votes for him as against 170 for his challenger, Sammy Binfo means, the 2020 parliamentary elections is almost a fait accompli.

Overall, the primaries was not for experienced hands in parliament. Several MPs were toppled in another wave set to pour green-horned MPs in parliament. At least 9 committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons in parliament lost their seats.

At least 40 MPs are on their way out – and counting.

There is a quiet but growing lament at the level of attrition in parliament. But in Asokwa, there is no such lament.

“Come and see the jubilation in the constituency,” KT Hammond invited cameras and reporters to survey the work of his hands.

Indeed, this is his first-ever victory in primaries because he has never been contested in the constituency which he first won in 2000.

And so for 19 years, the MP has grown into a ‘Mugabe’, a term associated with long-serving politicians as was the late president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.

Familiarity breeds contempt, they say and so a former student leader, Sammy Binfoh Darkwa decided that come December 2020, the photo on the Asokwa parliamentary ballot paper would be that of sample cheeks, not a forced smile of a worn-out politician.

“I shouldn’t get anything less than 70%. I am going to whip him and whip him proper,” Sammy Binfoh was reported as saying ahead of Saturday’s primaries.

And then when there was some moves to disqualify the aspirant, it appeared to be a desperate attempt traced to an upset political patriarch and his band of constituency oligarchs.

It fueled speculations, KT Hammond was about to go the way of E.T Mensah, a stalwart in the NDC chased out of parliament by a young politician.

But 63 votes stopped the upset story. And now, the microphones have turned to an already familiar face, because only victors write stories for history.

Talks of an upset was “just a hype”, the 60-year old said.

He said the level of social infrastructure within the constituency since he became MP is a silent endorser of his candidature and directional signs on who to vote for in the primaries.

“Come to Adansi Asokwa and then look for yourself. Look for the signature. It is all over the place, KT Hammond, KT Hammond,” he said.

“The townfolks knew that every single project in that town was put there by KT Hammond.”

And when the interviewer, Umaru Sanda asked if all this brouhaha in the primaries was a plot by some people to push him out, the NPP MP worked up a fit.

“Don’t ask me questions like that. Of course somebody wanted me out” he appeared to fume and said his interviewer and friend ought to know the predicament he faced.

“I don’t like hypocrisy. Don’t ask me that question or I will brand you a hypocrite”, the MP set for a 25 year stay in parliament complained of what he saw as an unfair tactic to oust him.

And then he declared his invincibility; “Nobody is going to remove KT Hammond.”

KT Hammond turned 60 years four days to the primaries. There was no celebration. But now he can. His birthday gift has finally come – even if it came late.