RULING PARTY WINS SEVENTH BY-ELECTION

UNCLAS ACCRA 001396

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM GH
SUBJECT: RULING PARTY WINS SEVENTH BY-ELECTION


1. (U) On June 29, the ruling party NPP candidate won a
special by-election to fill a vacant seat in Ghana's
200-member Parliament, garnering 85 percent of the vote in a
modest turnout. The principal opposition NDC did not field a
candidate, and neither did most of Ghana's other parties (one
independent and one small party candidate shared the
remaining 15 percent of the vote). Considered a safe seat
for the NPP, the other parties decided to save their
resources for the national elections in December, when all
Parliamentary seats will be contested.


2. (U) A full complement of Electoral Commission officers
traveled from its Accra headquarters to oversee the
by-election in Upper Denkyira in the Central Region, and
security force presence was considerable. However, the
election itself was uneventful. One bar to full
participation did occur in an isolated corner of the
constituency: upwards of 1000 women voters were unable to
cast ballots. A traditional prohibition on women crossing a
particular river on certain days meant they could not wade
across to the voting booths located on the other side (this
did not affect the final results).


3. (U) Comment. This is the NPP's seventh consecutive
victory in mid-term by-elections for vacant seats. It has
yet to lose one during President Kufuor's term in office.
Results in Upper Denkyira were never in doubt, particularly
after the NDC declined to contest. While the NPP can claim
no great triumph here (it did increase its margin of victory
from 2000),it will enter the December parliamentary
elections with an unblemished record. End comment.

Yates