Kofi Adams Wants Low Voter Turnout In Buem Investigated

Mr. Kofi Adams, Spokesperson for former President Jerry John Rawlings, wants government to look into possible reasons for the low turnout in the Buem constituency by-election this past Tuesday. Just over 30% of the about 37,000 eligible voters participated in the election, which saw National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Daniel Kosi Ashiamah emerge as the winner. He drew 9366 out of the 11,066 votes cast, far ahead of his closest contender, Nelson Asafo of the Convention People�s Party, who polled 726 votes. Mr. Asiamah will now replace the late Henry Ford Kamel, the previous Buem MP who died on Christmas Day last year. Mr. Adams believes the low turnout could be the result of a lack of confidence in the electoral process. Speaking on Adom TV, the disqualified NDC parliamentary hopeful said reports have shown that Buem recorded the lowest voter turnout in the Volta Region during the 2012 general elections. Although Mr. Adams believes many voters may have been on their farms at the time of voting, he also believes that the opposition New Patriotic party candidate�s decision not to contest the election may have been a factor. He called for urgent steps to correct whatever caused the voter apathy in the area to enable the people there to actively participate in deciding who will represent them.