#Ballotwatch: Why cracks in Klottey Korley NDC may swing seat in favour of NPP

The Klottey Korle Constituency in the Greater Accra will be one of the hottest constituencies to watch as the country gird its loins for the December 7 elections.

Over the years, it has gained a reputation for being one of the swing constituencies that determine the winner of the presidential elections.

It happened in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and in 2016. Whichever candidate wins the seat also got its flagbearer to the seat of government.

In 2016, however, the constituency made its first-ever skirt and blouse decision sending theNPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, to the Jubilee House as President and Dr. Zenator Agyeman-Rawlings, the daughter of the NDC founder, to Parliament.

Both candidates will be seeking a renewal of their mandate in the 2020 polls.

But Dr Agyeman-Rawlings could meet her stiffest opposition yet.

Some background should help in understanding the nature of this opposition.

A Rawlings wins power

In the 2016 elections, there was confusion in the camp of the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Klottey Korley Constituency. It helped smoothed Dr Zanetor path to victory. Of course being the daughter of Ghana’s former charismatic leader, Jerry Rawlings she was deemed the favourite.

After 19 years in power, not many people expected another Rawlings to be in power.

Although Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings the matriarch of the Rawlings household had unsuccessfully tried to step into her husband’s shoes only to fall out with the party her significant half founded.

So many put a dot at the end of a Rawlings dynasty.

That was for a moment, until the eldest of the Rawlings’ daughters entered the political fray.

Interestingly, she chose a constituency that her father lived for almost his entire life.

Rawlings grew up in Adabraka, spent 19 years in the Osu Castle first as Chairman of the Provisional National Defence Council Military junta from December 31^st 1981 to January 6, 1993 and later, as a democratically elected leader from January 7, 1993 to January 7, 2001.

When the sun set on his time in office, he chose to settle in the Constituency—his Ridge residence where his children, including Dr Agyeman-Rawlings, were raised.

Dr Agyeman-Rawlings’ foot into politics started with the mobilisation of support for victims of the June 3 twin disaster, at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, which killed at least 152 people in floods and raging fire.

Then she turfed out the incumbent Member of Parliament for the Klottey Korley Constituency, Nii Armah Ashitey, in a hotly contested primary that later ended up in court.

She won the case in which some members of the NDC challenged her eligibility as a candidate at a time she was not a registered voter.

Ghana’s electoral law requires that persons who stand for elections be registered voters.

But the court held the position that the plaintiffs failed to convince the court that their rights had or will be violated in any way.

With the road cleared, many anticipated that she will face the poster boy of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the constituency at the time—Valentino Nii Noi Nortey.

A bout of internal wrangling over register for NPP delegates to elect their parliamentary candidate wore out NPP supporters in the constituency.

In the end, Philip Addison, the man who led the NPP to the Supreme Court over the disputed 2012 elections won the parties primaries to run in the 2016 elections.

Nii Noi had earlier won the primaries, which was rerun. Nii Noi dropped his loyalty for the party and went independent.

So the NPP went into the 2016 elections with a divided front.

Zanetor won the seat with a 4,487 margin.

Mr Addison placed second with 29,122 votes representing 43.57%

Nii Noi garnered close to 4,000 votes.

Candidate	Result
Zanetor Agyeman Rawlings (NDC)	33,609 (50.29%)
Addison Philip Kojo Addo (NPP)	29, 122 (43.57%)
Valentino Nii Noi Nortey (Ind)	3,911(5.85%)
Godwin Opare-Addo (CPP)	194 (0.29%)

 

The impact of Valentino going independent was obviously a big one. Had there been no cracks in the NPP, Zanetor’s win could have been not more than 900 votes.

The NPP’s chances in the constituency is also seen in how well its presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo fared.

Akufo-Addo beat John Mahama, the NDC’s candidate by a little over 2,000 votes.

Nana Akufo-Addo won the constituency in 2016, the first time an NPP presidential candidate had ever done so. The constituency for the first time since 1992 voted skirt and blouse.

2020 dynamics

With Mr Addison switching constituencies to contest in Akuapem North, where he has been disqualified, Prince Debrah, who is popularly known as ‘Osu Boy’, grabbed the NPP parliamentary ticket.

Mr Debrah fired the first salvo on the day he was elected.

“For two years now, we’ve been digging the ground. This victory is for NPP. Zanetor we are coming after you with a lot of zeal. With vim. Get ready. From now on there will be no more factions in this party,” he said of the election the NPP lost in 2016.

In an election year in which the NPP’s most marketed face in the constituency will not be contesting, the road should be rosy for the NDC candidate but it does not appear so.

There are reports that a candidate breaking away from the NDC camp would be contesting the 2020 elections as an independent candidate.

But the most recent data is on her side.

In the Fourth Republican era, no parliamentary candidate has won the Klottey Korle seat with more than 2,000 votes. She got more than 4,000 votes.

It is not also not the first time  in the constituency that a candidate has broken away from the NDC to stand as an independent candidate.  When it last happened, the NDC still won the constituency.

In 2012, Leeford Kpakpo Quarshie, who lost the NDC primaries to Nii Amarh Ashittey, went independent. That decision did not affect the NDC’s chances of winning the seat.

Candidate	Result
Nii Armah Ashittey	36,122 (48.55%)
Samuel J. Adjei Tawiah (NPP)	34,847 (46.85%)
Leeford K. Quarwhie	1, 354 (1.82%)
Chris Bonarpate (PPP)	1,151 (1.55)
Kabu Okai-Davies (CPP)	408 (0.5)
Godwin Opare-Addo	327 (0.44)

 

Consistently, the difference between the winner of the seat and the main challenger had always a little over 2,000 voters except in 2000 when Nii Adu Mante walloped businessman, David Lamptey by more than 9,000 votes. It remains the biggest margin in the history of the constituency.

Zanetor’s margin of some 4,000 is the second biggest.

Dr Agyeman-Rawlings’ headche

But going into an election for a second term comes with losing votes as electorates with unmet expectations shift their allegiance elsewhere.

She also has to contend with an independent Parliamentary candidate from the NDC–Alhaji Danjumah Alhassan.

Alhaji Alhassan has two cases against the MP. He claims the incumbent MP cannot boast of any specific developmental initiative in the Klottey Korle Constituency, since she took over as a Member of Parliament in the Constituency.

His other beef is that the NDC candidate has never given out funds to the executives in the constituency to organize campaigns in order for the NDC to win power.

Then there is a trend that shows that almost all the lawmakers elected in Klottey Korle since 1969 do win re-elections.

There are only three exceptions – in 1992 and 1996 when the candidates served  only one term.

Former Education Minister in the Rawlings administration, Harry Sawyerr (1969& 1979), E.W Nortey (1992); David Lamptey (1996); Nii Adu Mate (2000& 2004) and Nii Armah Ashitey (2008 & 2012).

Dr Agyeman-Rawlings also has political capital —her father—J.J. Rawlings.

While the Rawlings of old might not appeal to the millennials, who had just been born when he was exiting office, his charisma is still an asset that could swing votes if he decides to join his daughter’s campaign trail.

But in a recent interview, Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said it was too early to determine if her father would be by her side.

She maintained that her works would speak for itself ahead of the December polls.

These achievements, she said, include paving the driveway of the Odawna market at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, providing streetlights for markets and some streets in the constituency as well as building a bridge at the Adabraka Sahara area to help the community members escape perennial flooding.

She also points to constructing a bridge that connects Asylum down to Ridge, which serves as a commuter route for students and workers in the two communities.

Additionally, she said she has supported market women with funding, while supplying mathematical sets to school children in the constituency.

With the government tagging 2020 as a ‘Year of Road,’ she said she lobbied the construction of roads in Asylum Down by asking questions on the floor of Parliament as well as wrote to the Roads and Highways Ministry for the constituency’s share of roads.