The Electoral Commission (EC) has expressed its readiness to conduct the Ejisu Constituency by-election on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
The Director of Electoral Services at the EC Headquarters in Accra, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, in an interview, said that all the electoral materials and equipment for the by-election were set in Ejisu.
”The Notice of Poll, ballot papers and all relevant logistics have been delivered to Ejisu so we are set, ”he told Daily Graphic.
Dr. Quaicoe said the materials will be deployed to the polling stations at dawn on the day of the election, adding that accreditation for the various agents of the candidates and those who want to monitor the election had begun and would continue today, Monday, April 29, 2024.
The Director of Electoral Services at the EC said a total of 106,812 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots in 204 polling stations across the constituency. Ahead of the bye-election tomorrow, Dr. Quaicoe said security had been heightened, saying ”we’re treating all the 204 polling stations as potential hotspots because you may never know where an incident will occur”.
”As for the police, we are always in touch with them. we have sent them the list of all 209 polling stations and their locations”, Dr. Serebour noted.
Injunction:
The Director of Electoral Services at the EC said the Convention People’s Party(CPP) had decided not to pursue an interlocutory injunction it filed at the Kumasi High Court against the EC for accepting the nominations of the Party’s Candidate, Esther Osei. The Ashanti Region Chairman of the CPP, Emmanuel Gallo, filed the injunction at the Kumasi High Court with a hearing fixed for today. ”But the CPP says they are not pursuing the injunction so everything is smooth sailing,” Dr. Quaicoe said.
Candidates:
Meanwhile the notice of Poll published by the EC ahead of the by-election indicated that there were six Candidates who were contesting the by-election. There are three Independent Candidates and three political parties. The Independent candidates are a former New Patriotic Party(NPP), Member of Parliament for the area and Former Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, Gabriel Agyemang Joseph and Attakorah Joseph.
The Candidates for the Political parties are Esther Osei of the CPP; Kwabena Boateng of the NPP and Beatrice Boakye of the Liberal Party of Ghana LPG. Esther Osei CPP, occupies the number one position of the ballot paper, Kwabena Boateng NPP, Number two; Beatrice Boakye LPG three; Kwabena Owusu Aduomi independent , five, and Attakorah Joseph independent, number six.
The Ejisu seat became vacant following the death on March 7, 2024 of the sitting NPP MP for the Constituency, John Ampontuah Kumah, who was also a Deputy Minister of Finance.