THE peaceful and serene farming community of Chereponi in the Northern Region is being invigorated with political manoeuvres.
The constituency will soon attract the nation’s attention as the next stop for a by-election that comes off on Tuesday, September 29, following the death of the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Madam Doris Asibi Seidu, last month.
As the dust settles on the Akwatia by-election, which was marred by some reported violent scenes, the various political parties are now turning their attention to Chereponi to test their popularity with the electorate.
Unlike Akwatia where most people had predicted that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Dr Kofi Asare, was going to carry the day following his good showing in the earlier elections in December last year, the Chereponi Constituency would be difficult to predict which way the pendulum will swing.
Even though some of the other smaller parties are yet to make their intention to contest for the seat, it is certainly going to be a straight contest between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the NPP.
Indeed, one fact that would stare the political bigwigs as they troop to the constituency to canvass for votes is the terrible nature of the untarred road that has been made worst by the incessant rains in the north this year.
The people have lived with this appalling situation over the years, in spite of the many and varied promises made by successive governments to work on it.
The Chereponi District was created out of the then Saboba/Chereponi District in February, last year.
Even though it is 175 kilometres from Tamale, it takes about three-and-a-half hours as a result of the bad nature of the road, from Yendi to the area, which covers about 85 kilometres.
At the moment, the Metro Mass buses and other big vehicles have been compelled to stop plying the road, because it is simply unmotorable.
Meanwhile, Chereponi is one of the major producers of yam and other staples in the region.
The two major parties, NDC and the opposition NPP, have at different times won the Chereponi Constituency seat. While the former had won the seat three times, the latter has occupied it in the last two general election.
The constituency has also witnessed two MPs, who are now deceased, from both the NDC and the NPP. In the 1992 general election, Alhaji Mohammed Yahaya of the NDC represented the people in Parliament. He retained the seat in the 1996, but later passed away in 2000.
The NDC, however, retained the seat again in the 2000 elections, with the election of the current District Chief Executive for the area, Alhaji Issah Abbah. He was, however, swept off the seat by the late Doris Asibi Seidu of the NPP in the 2004 elections.
She retained the seat last year, when she polled 9188 out of the 17,559 valid votes cast, representing 53 per cent of the votes.
The constituency is largely made up of two major ethnic groups, the Chekosis and Konkombas. It is, however, not spared the protracted land and chieftaincy disputes that is currently hanging around the necks of most ethnic groups in the north like an albatross.
Some political pundits, therefore, are of the opinion that a likely winner should be someone who would have the appeal from the major ethnic groups.
At the moment, the political atmosphere in the constituency is heating up as the parties are gearing up to select their respective candidates.
While the NDC is preparing to go to primaries to select a candidate from the four aspirants, including a woman, on Thursday, the NPP is also warming itself up to pick from their hopefuls, including a woman.
Some of the candidates have, however, given an indication of their intention to go independent in case they fail in their respective primaries.
But according to a political observer, Dr Mohammed Alhassan, “the issue is not about settling on just any woman, but about someone of substance who will have the appeal of the late Doris, who was so selfless and also contributed immensely to the accelerated development of the area”.
“In any case, the race will be tight between the NDC and the NPP, depending on their choice of candidates,” he added.
Both parties have, therefore, stepped up their campaigns as they knock on the doors of chiefs and opinion leaders to seek for their blessings, while interacting with various youth groups and individuals to woo their confidence.
The leadership of both parties in the region has given an assurance of winning the election.
According to the acting Northern Regional Secretary of the NPP, Faisal Gbangbili, nothing would prevent the party from retaining the seat.
His colleague from the NDC, Alhaji Abdulai Harruna, however, played down the optimism of his NPP colleague, stressing that the ruling party was well poised to reclaim the seat it had occupied for three consecutive times until 2004.
And as the curtains are getting drawn on the primaries, the parliamentary hopefuls of both parties are also leaving no stone unturned to get the nod of their followers to represent their parties in the by-election, which promises to be interesting but highly competitive.
It is hoped that the lessons learnt in the Akwatia by-election will guide the security operatives in discharging their responsibilities without blemishes, so that at the end of the day, nobody is hurt or loses his/her life in the name of party politics
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