NPP primaries, Adwoa Safo retired and key highlights

The ruling New Patriotic Party, NPP, on Saturday, January 27, 2024, held primaries to elect parliamentary candidates for the next general elections. While some incumbent MPs including the Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu decided to retire gracefully after several years in Parliament, some insisted on going again. That decision did not end well for some incumbents are they were kicked out by new faces at the NPP primaries on Saturday.

Several of the incumbents lost their bids to return to the house in 2025. Freda Prempeh, the MP for Tano North and Minister under President Akufo-Addo lost her bid to return to Parliament for the fourth time. She lost to Dr Gideon Boako, Spokesperson for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, at the NPP primaries.

Another upset came from Weija Gbawe in Accra where Deputy Health Minister Tina Gifty Mensah lost her third term bid at the first hurdle to Jerry Ahmed Shab. While Tina secured a paltry 361 votes, Ahmed Shab earned 786 votes to leave the minister needing first aid.

And if you thought those were shocks of the NPP primaries, wait till you get the next one. One lawmaker who held the government to ransom and caused division and dislike for her among her people is Sarah Adwoa Safo. Seen as the darling girl of Dome-Kwabenya, her antics finally have caught up with her. Delegates in the constituency failed to forgive her for embarrassing them and holding the party to ransom in 2021 and 2022. She made attempts to patch the cracks by sharing ice cream with her constituents and issuing an apology but none worked. The verdict? She was given an embarrassing and chastening defeat by Mike Ocquaye Jr. With 1,194 votes, Ocquaye Jr successfully retired the unrepentant Adwoa Safo who only managed 328 votes. While she may not return to Parliament in 2025, she has now officially been given free time to possibly do more videos for TikTok.

Outside the defeats of some notable names, others too managed to retain their spots at the NPP primaries despite fierce competition. The MP for Adansi Asokwa, K. T Hammond emerged victorious from the race though videos of him surfaced online when he threatened to beat his opposition to a pulp. K.T. Hammond retained his spot with 311 votes to his contender’s 125. According to the Trade Minister, his contender, Sammy Binfoh Darkwah used macho men to harrass his[K.T. Hammond’s] supporters. He then threatened to beat mercilessly the Ghana Library Authority Deputy CEO and chase him out of town.

Also, Ursula Owusu-Ekufful, the Minister of Communication still has the full support of delegates as she collected a total of 817 votes in the primary. That number ensured she knocked off the competition from Roni Kwesi Nicol who got 241 votes. Nsawam Adoagyiri MP, Annor Dompreh retained his spot also despite confusion rocking the process in the area.