Actor John Dumelo has withdrawn from contesting in the upcoming Ayawaso West Wuogon primaries of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
According to a statement from the constituency office of the party, Mr. Dumelo and another candidate, Ewoenam Y. A. Attidokpo, withdrew from the race “due to some personal reasons.”
A total of 8 persons expressed interest in contesting in the elections to lead the party in the by-election for the constituency in January 2019, but at the close of filing on Saturday, December 22, only three persons successfully filed their nomination.
The three are Mr. Ekwow Acquah, Mr. Delali Kwasi Brempong and Madam Donna Selassie Agbo.
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Three other candidates, Alhaji Isaah Kamara, Madam Catherine Abrokwa Mante and Kojo Twum Boafo, failed to file their nominations before the 5:00pm deadline.
Why did Dumelo withdraw?
John Dumelo is yet to publicly indicate his reason from withdrawing from the race. But recently, a Deputy National Communications Director of the governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, said he Dumelo did not qualify to contest because he does not vote in the constituency.
“We have the register for the constituency and I know he is not a member of this constituency. When did he transfer his vote or registered here, the right thing must be done. His constituency is Hohoe, that’s where he votes” she said.
Mame Yaa Aboagye, who’s also lacing her boots to contest the NPP’s primaries to vie for the seat, said Dumelo would be no match for the NPP in that constituency, but they believed the right thing ought to be done.
Who qualifies to contest as MP?
The constitution states that a person shall not be qualified to be a candidate for the office of member of Parliament unless he is resident in the constituency for which he stands as a candidate for election to Parliament or has resided there, for a total period of not less than five years out of the ten years immediately preceding the election for which he stands or he hails from that constituency.
About the NDC primaries
The cost of nomination forms and filing fees was GH¢1,000 and GH¢10,000 respectively, with a 50 per cent discount on the filing fees for women and persons with disability.
The party has set 28th of December for the primaries ahead of the by-election which will be held in January 2019.
The by-election has been necessitated by the death of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, Emmanuel Agyarko.