The Member of Parliament (MP) for Evalue-Ajomoro Gwira constituency in the Western Region, Kofi Arko Nokoe, has filed his nomination form to compete in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in the area for a second term.
Kofi Arko Nokoe who became the MP on the ticket of NDC on January 7, 2021, is being challenged by Augustina Ama Tabuah Kofi, the wife of NDC Evalue-Ajomoro Gwira constituency chairman, Emmanuel Annor Kofi.
It would be recalled that the national leadership of the party postponed the NDC Evalue-Ajomoro Gwira parliamentary primaries for uncleared reasons in May 2023.
Finally, all is set for the parliamentary primaries to be conducted in the constituency which will take place on Saturday, October 28, 2023.
Kofi Nokoe was accompanied by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Amenfi West Constituency, Eric Afful to submit his parliamentary nomination form on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at Axim.
Addressing party delegates after the submitting the forms, Kofi Nokoe commended the NDC members in the area for their unflinching support shown to him to become their parliamentary candidate in 2020 after unseating Catherine Afeku of the NPP.
He stated that he was not worried about some NPP members contesting him as an incumbent MP but stated it was part of democracy.
“Today I’m standing here as the MP it was through your hardworking in 2020 so I will may Almighty God bless you abundantly, I’m not worried that some people are contesting me, everywhere I go I face competition, you remember very well that 2019 when I was coming to contest in the primaries, I faced similar opposition and even in 2020, so many people said Kofi Arko Nokoe would not win the parliamentary seat for NDC, I was insulted on radio throughout the election but at the end of the day, I won”, he said.
He was optimistic that he would win the parliamentary primaries come October 28, 2023.
“I’m very optimistic that come October 28th, I will emerge as winner to retain the parliamentary seat for NDC because I believe in you the delegates”, he stated.
Nokoe who admitted that the Evalue-Ajomoro Gwira parliamentary seat was a swing constituency, pledged his total commitment to break the four-year jinx to make history in 2024.
He, therefore, called on the delegates and supporters of NDC to rally behind him to retain the parliamentary seat for NDC in 2024.
“Since 1992, no sitting MP has retained the parliamentary seat before and this is affecting our development. We should not make any mistake again, we should all think about the progress of our constituency, look at what our senior brother, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah is doing in the Ellembelle constituency, he is doing well simply because his constituents have been given him more years to represent them in parliament”.
“I will appeal to you to rally behind me by electing me again as your parliamentary candidate to break the four in Evalue-Ajomoro Gwira, we are going to break the four in Evalue-Ajomoro Gwira constituency, I need all your support”, he said.
He encouraged the NDC members to remain calm and wait for the second coming of John Dramani Mahama in 2024.
He also blamed the Akufo-Addo-led government for failing to re-construct all the bad roads in the constituency.
“Just look at what the Akufo-Addo-led government is doing to us, they are punishing us simply because I’m an opposition MP, the roads that they are supposed to do, they have abandoned them, I have been pushing for it to be, done but they are not ready to listen to us so what I will tell you is that just remain calm because in 2024, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama will be president of Ghana and the bad roads in our constituency will be dealt with and to those NDC members who have since 1992 supporting NDC and have not received anything should remain calm, the right time is coming, everything will be right, let us all work harder for John Dramani Mahama and NDC to come to power in 2024”, he emphasized.
He emphasized that politics was not about insults and intemperate language but about sharing divergent views and urged his team and delegates to be tolerant and not to be influenced by material things and money.
Source: ghanaweb.com / Daniel Kaku, Contributor
