Dr Stephen Torkpo, a parliamentary aspirant in the upcoming NDC Primaries in Akatsi North constituency says, he would work hard to increase votes for the party when voted for as the constituency’s parliamentary candidate to contest the 2024 general elections.
Dr Torkpo was speaking in an interview with Ghananewsonline.com.gh after filing his nominations at the party’s constituency office at Ave- Dakpa in the Akatsi North district of the Volta Region.
According to him, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency, Mr Peter Nortsu Kotoe has lost popularity with the grassroots of the party and this has affected the performance of the NDC in the last two major elections.
He observed for instance that candidate John Mahama lost 270 votes between elections 2012 and 2016, and 286 votes between elections 2016 and 2020.
On the other hand, the NPP gained 173 votes between 2012 and 2016, and alarmingly, in 2020, the NPP gained 1562 votes.
Dr Torkpo further observed that, in the parliamentary elections, the current member of Parliament who is seeking re-election for a 4th term, had his votes decline from 11,482 in 2016 to 9,770, whiles a new and relatively unknown NPP candidate, who’s the current DCE, improved significantly the votes his predecessor obtained in 2016, which was 1379 to 4575 in 2020.
The aspirant who is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Ghana is contesting the Primaries for a fourth time after losing to the incumbent in the last three Primaries.
He says there was “an urgent need for the NDC to present a new and popular candidate to neutralize the gains of the NPP in Akatsi North, a candidate who is down to earth and understands the issues of the grassroots people who form the nucleus of the party.”
Dr. Torkpo, a native of Ave-Havi who is a well known member of the NDC both in Akatsi North constituency and beyond, and is associated with several developmental efforts within the constituency in the fields of education, sports, health, agriculture, apprenticeship support programs among others, promised to run a campaign devoid of insults and attacks going into the primaries, and to further unite the party when officially elected as the Parliamentary candidate on May 13.
“I intend to run an open door policy, working with all stakeholders in the party and to bring everyone on board to ensure a resounding victory for the umbrella party in the 2024 general elections,” he said.
The Parliamentary candidate hopeful advised all aspirants in the upcoming primaries to avoid the use of intemperate language during the course of their campaigns.
“Let’s watch our eyes when”fighting” – Ghanaians are looking up to the NDC to save the country, and we cannot afford to disappoint them,” Dr. Torkpo said.
By Leo Nelson || Ghananewsonline.com.gh