Ghana Elections Constituency Watch 2024: Ablekuma South in Focus

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.

Follow the 2024 General Elections on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on @GhanaElections