Two of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidates, Ebi Bright and Baba Sadiq, from the creative sector, have lost their bids in the 2024 election.
The Electoral Commission announced on Sunday, January 5, 2025, that Charles Forson of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is the winner of the Tema Central election, and Patrick Yaw Boamah, also of the NPP, is the Member of Parliament-elect for the Okaikwei Central constituency.
Following a High Court order, the outstanding polling station results were collated, resulting in NPP’s Charles Forson polling 18,870 votes, compared to Ebi Bright’s 18,815 votes. An independent candidate polled 209 votes with 114 rejected votes, out of a total of 38,038 votes cast.
In the Okaikwei Central constituency, Patrick Yaw Boamah secured 21,099 votes to win the seat, while Baba Sadiq, a creative entrepreneur, garnered 19,368 votes, losing his bid for the parliamentary seat.
With these results, the number of creatives/creative entrepreneurs going to parliament after the election now stands at four: Kwame Obeng Asare (A Plus) for Gomoa Central Constituency, Ohene Kwame Frimpong for Asante Akyem North Constituency, John Dumelo for Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, and Dzifa Abla Gomashie for Ketu South Constituency.
The court-ordered collation was a result of the NPP going to court over the declaration of the NDC’s Tema Central candidate as the winner of the polls, citing inconclusive collation and wrong declaration of the winner.
The High Court ruled in favor of the NPP’s argument, ordering the Electoral Commission to complete the collation with adequate security from the Ghana Police Service.
The ruling by Justice Forson Agyapong compelled the EC to collate the results from the remaining polling stations and incorporate them into the already collated figures, ultimately leading to the final declaration of the winners.
Despite the court’s ruling, the NDC has served notice of appeal against the decision on all four constituencies where disputes arose.
The election results have been finalized just days before the swearing-in of newly-elected MPs, bringing a close to the contentious electoral process.
