Member of Parliament for Bantama Francis Asenso-Boakye has said that he was initially surprised and disappointed by the number of votes garnered by his contender, Ralph Agyapong in the recently held parliamentary primary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the constituency.
He said he had done a lot of development projects in the constituency and also embarked on several community engagements therefore he was expecting a much wider percentage gap.
However, he said, he stopped being disappointed after realizing the kind of people who supported Ralph Agyapong and the orchestration that went on behind the scenes to get him voted out.
Asenso-Boakye garnered 650 votes, representing 78.22% of the total votes cast. On the other hand, Mr Agyapong whose brother, Assin Central lawmaker Kennedy Agyapong mounted a spirited campaign for him, polled 181 votes, representing 21.78% of the overall vote count.
Asked whether he expected a close contest in the primary, Asenso-Boakye, who is also Minister of Works and Housing said “Closer contest? No, I wasn’t expecting a closer contest. In fact, when they announced the results I was a bit disappointed that the guy could poll that number of votes.
“I was surprised but thinking about it and getting to hear about the emerging issues surrounding the outcome and the results then I understood why. Because [Ralph Agyapong] on his own couldn’t have polled that number. The kind of people were supporting him behind the scenes.
“I didn’t believe the kind of people who were supporting him but later it was confirmed regardless 78 percent is a landslide and in any election, it is quite huge.
“I had brought many development projects which many of the people in Bantama believe is unprecedented, even in terms of community engagement and community mobilization it has never happened before. I am the first MP for Bantama who was elected right after I was appointed a cabinet minister which meant that I had bigger responsibilities, that notwithstanding I still had time to visit my constituency.”
“So I believe that I have done a lot of work and I was hoping that I could poll even much bigger percentage but it didn’t happen. I am sure you also know the kind of machinations that went on in Bantama,” he told Accra-based Starr FM on Thursday, February 1.