The Minister for Communications and Digitalisation and incumbent Member of Parliament for Ablekuma West, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has lost her seat in the 2024 parliamentary election.
According to certified results announced by the Electoral Officer, the NPP’s Owusu-Ekuful secured 26,575 votes, losing to the opposition NDC’s parliamentary candidate, Rev. Kweku Addo, who garnered 31,866 votes.
In the presidential election, the NPP’s Dr Mahamudu Bawumia obtained 24,726 votes, while the NDC’s John Dramani Mahama received 31,666 votes.
The Ablekuma West Constituency made headlines during the general elections on Saturday, 7th December. Early in the morning, some voters reportedly rejected food packs distributed by the incumbent MP. Tensions later escalated in the area after reports of a police officer allegedly being assaulted for attempting to smuggle unsealed ballot boxes to the collation centre.
The Ablekuma West Constituency, one of 45 newly created constituencies for the 2012 general election, encompasses Dansoman, Sahara, Gbegbeyise, Agege, Glefe, Opetekwe, and Shiabu.
Since its creation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has been the sole Member of Parliament for the area. In 2012, she won with 36,975 votes (58.22%) against the NDC’s Victoria Hamah, who secured 26,153 votes (41.18%). She retained her seat in 2016 with 32,964 votes (56.8%) against the NDC’s Diana Obenewaa Twum, who managed 20,240 votes (34.89%). In the 2020 elections, she won with 37,363 votes (54.27%) against Rev. Kweku Addo, who received 30,734 votes (44.64%).
Meanwhile, Ursula is not the only prominent figure in the NPP to lose her seat in this election. Other notable defeats include Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Sekondi and Minister of Tourism, as well as Kobina Tahir Hammond, the MP for Adansi Asokwa. Several others have also lost their seats.