I would’ve won by a huge margin if SALL had voted – Amewu
The Minister-designate for Railway Development, John Peter Amewu, has debunked claims that he would have lost his parliamentary bid if residents of Santrofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) were allowed to vote.
Residents of these areas, under the Guan District which was carved out of the Hohoe constituency, were not allowed to participate in the parliamentary elections on December 7, 2020, due to the absence of a constituency.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointment Committee on Wednesday, February 24, Mr Awewu said :
“I sympathize with my brothers and sisters at SALL for not taking part in the parliamentary elections. I went into the elections as a player and not a referee. I did not constitute the rules that were in place for me to come and contest.
“I just went in as a contestant and unfortunately, for one reason or another, they were not allowed to vote in Hohoe. I sympathize with them and I would have been very happy if the people of SALL had voted because, in 2004 and 2008, those were my strongholds. If they had voted, I would have even won with a higher margin,” Mr Amewu said.
The residents voted only in the presidential elections.
The Electoral Commission, in a release on the eve of the general elections, made the announcement that the people could not participate in the parliamentary polls.
The EC explained that this was due to the inability to create a constituency because the C.I. needed to do so could not mature in the 7th Parliament.
Despite the explanation given by the EC, a section of the public alleged SALL was disenfranchised to ensure Mr Amewu won the Hohoe seat since it was the stronghold of the opposition NDC.
Mr Amewu won the seat with 26,952 votes in his third attempt while his National Democratic Congress (NDC) opponent, Margaret Kweku, polled 21,821 votes.
Meanwhile, the EC is expected to initiate processes leading to the creating of a new constituency in the district.
This is to take place during the 8th parliament.