Source: Accra Metropolitan Assembly
Considered somewhat a stronghold for the National
Democratic Congress, the Ablekuma South is located within the Accra Metropolis in
the Greater Accra Region. The Ablekuma South Sub Metropolitan District which
forms the constituency is the largest in the Metropolis, bordered by Ablekuma Central, Ablekuma North and Ashiedu
Keteke Sub Metropolitan Districts.
The constituency has 87,709 registered
voters as at 2020. The major economic activity in the area is fishing and fish
mongering since most of its communities are located on the coastline.
Parliamentary Voting Patterns in Ablekuma
South Constituency
Since its inception, the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress (NDC) have both won elections in the
constituency. Madam Theresa Ameley Tagoe of the NPP won the 1996 election, obtaining
39.90% of the vote as against 35.70% for the NDC’s Ebo Hawkson. Madam Theresa
went ahead to retain the seat for two consecutive terms making her the only the
female candidate to have won the seat. However, this didn’t continue as the NDC
will win the seat back in 2008 when their parliamentary candidate Henry Fritz
Baffour won the elections with a slight margin. He clocked 51.3% of the votes as
against the NPP’s Francis Kojo Smith who had 46.5%.
Hon. Baffour increased his margin from
51.3% to 56.2% in 2012, retaining the seat for the NDC. The former Mayor of the
Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije took over the mantle from
him in 2016, garnering 56.2%.
Again,
Alfred Okoe vanderpuije won the 2020 parliamentary election with a huge margin.
He increased his votes percentage to 61.4% from 56.2% in 2016 while Bernard
Brown of the New Patriotic Party had 38.6%.
Below is a graphical representation of the parliamentary voting patterns in Ablekuma South Constituency from 1996 to 2020.
Source: Author's computation with data from the Electoral Commission (African Elections Project)
Presidential Voting Patterns in Ablekuma South
The voting pattern of presidential election
results in the constituency is not different from the parliamentary. In 1996
Jerry John Rawlings of the NDC won the presidential election by 50.0% against
John Agyekum Kuffuor of the NPP who got 48.7%. The incumbent vice president at
the time, Prof John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills won the ticket to contest as the
flagbearer of the NDC in 2000. He decreased the votes of the NDC in the
constituency from 50.0% to 41.5% while John Kuffuor increased the NPP’s votes
astronomically from 48.7% in 1996 to 55.9%. The NPP will go on to win the 2004
elections as well with 55.0% as against the NDC’s 43.8%. During the 2008
elections the NPP was represented by a new candidate; Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo-Addo
while the NDC maintained Prof. Atta Mills.
The NPP won the 2008 presidential elections
results in the constituency garnering 48.8% against the NDC who had 48.1%. Even
though candidate Akufo-Addo won the constituency, he however lost the general
election.
In 2012, the NDC regained its dominance in
the presidential election by securing 58.6% of the votes cast as against the
NPP who declined to 40.5%. Even though they lost the general election in 2016, the
NDC again won the presidential election in Ablekuma South with 54.2% while NPP had
44.9%. The NDC again lost the general election in 2020, but it’s candidate,
John Mahama won the presidential election at the constituency by 59.55% as against
Nana Akkufu Addo who got 39.87% (a decline from the previous year).
The graph below shows the presidential results trends from 1996 to 2020:
Source: Author's computation with data from the Electoral Commission of Ghana (African Elections Project)
2024 Parliamentary Elections
The 2024 election is expected to be a
competitive one. Samuel Sarbah Lartey an educationist who is also the
parliamentary candidate of the NPP is poised to oust the former Accra Mayor and
incumbent member of parliament. Samuel Sarbah Lartey commonly referred to as
“Teacher Agoe” has indicated that the incumbent is no match for him come
December 7th. He strongly believes that the electorates will give him the nod
because he has done a lot of charitable
works in the constituency. The election however, will not be a walk in the
park for the NPP parliamentary candidate considering the fact that the NDC has
maintained a firm grip on the constituency in the past 4 consecutive elections.
Challenges in Ablekuma South
Aside the general economic hardship in the country,
residents of the Ablekuma South constituency have mentioned a number of
challenges they are facing such as poor
road networks, sanitation issues and unemployment. Residents of chorkor, a
community in the Ablekuma south area have stressed on sanitation as the major
problem in their community. They added that, inadequate refuse containers at
vantage points and open defecation at the beaches as results of lack of toilets
facilities have made the place unattractive for investors and stunted its
growth.
Who wins the 2024 Elections?
It is evident that despite the two parties sharing the seat among themselves, the NDC has become the favourite in the constituency at least in recent times. Knowing that this constituency has voted for both parties at some point, one will be safe to conclude that residents can switch loyalties to vote for the candidate whose policies address their challenges However, will the people of Ablekuma South make that statement on December 7 this year? Time will tell.
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