Former NPP chairman to challenge Joe Ghartey in Essikadu-Ketan

The race for the Essikadu-Ketan parliamentary seat is getting hotter as a former constituency chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), James Obeng Jnr, is poised to unseat the incumbent Member of Parliament and Minister for Railway Development, Joe Ghartey.  The former Youth Organizer, Constituency Secretary and Chairman has already picked his nomination forms to contest his Mr Ghartey, who he thinks has done his best but should give way for a more competent candidate to ensure NPP retains the seat. “Joe Ghartey has done his best but it seems like the people are losing confidence in him so the polling station executives believe I will be the better option to bring back that lost confidence and am ever ready for that task,” he said. In an exclusive interview with editors.3news.com, Mr Obeng Jnr said that the NPP is likely to lose more seats to the opposition parties this year as has been the trend for some time now. He noted the party was able to win in all the 55 polling stations in the constituency when it was created in 2004. However, it lost 2 stations in the 2008 elections and 6 in the 2012 elections and there is the likelihood of losing more polling stations looking at the current happenings in the constituency. Touching on some challenges confronting the party, Mr. Obeng Jnr bemoaned the fact that the constituency’s party office is located in the garage of the Member of Parliament’s private residence.

The NPP parliamentary aspirant has pledged to construct new party offices in the constituency and also purchase a vehicle to augment work. Asked how he will rate Joe Ghartey in his 16 years in office, James Obeng Jnr said he will give him 60-70 per cent. He further stated that contesting his own member of parliament is no news since Joe Ghartey contested Nana Akufo Addo for the presidential race in 2016. “People are asking why I am contesting my own friend, and Member of Parliament and my answer is that the MP contested our current president who also mentored the MP as a lawyer. So, I don’t err if I should contest him when things are not going as we desire.” He says he represents a dawn of new hope for the constituents as well as the party. By William Benjamin Peters|editors.3news.com|Ghana