E.T. Mensah Faces Uphill Task In Bid To Retain Seat

Mr E.T. Mensah, a political powerhouse and the sitting National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo Prampram for the past 16 years, is still in the race for the ticket of his party to contest the parliamentary seat for the area for the fifth time. The attempt to perpetuate himself in power which has earned him the nickname of ��Ningo Prampram Mugabe�� is however, becoming a risky venture. Own volition Whether he will succeed this time around or not is for the delegates to decide as two parliamentary aspirants have emerged to challenge his bid and nothing is stopping them even though there is advice here and there for the young men to consider his age and allow him to retire on his own volition as an accomplished politician and legislator. The two parliamentary aspirants who have emerged to contest the incumbent are Mr Michael Kwetey Tetteh, a businessman, who gave Mr Mensah a run for his money by keenly contesting the MP in 2011 though he eventually lost. Enviable record The other parliamentary aspirant, who is expected to cut short Mr Mensah�s enviable record, is the youthful member of the NDC communication team, Mr Sam George. Mr George is eager to make history and would not brood any advice from any quarters to keep Mr Mensah�s record intact, for him to retire as a successful politician who served his people well. Mr George is citing Mr Mensah�s dwindling electoral fortunes which have witnessed a nose-dive, insisting that he ought to be replaced by a youthful person who can revive the electoral fortunes of the party in the constituency. Incumbent Mr Tetteh is also not a new face as he has tormented the incumbent for years trying unsuccessfully to wrest the seat from him. Even though he has been accepted back into the NDC after he attempted to defect to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Tetteh was sitting on tenterhooks as the vetting committee was making preparation to vet parliamentary aspirants in the Greater Accra Region yesterday, September 30, as many political analysts thought his defection would come up for deliberation at the vetting. If he should be disqualified for defecting briefly to the NPP, the contest would turn into a two-man duel between old Mensah and young George. Ethnicity It is interesting that the contest between the two has taken an ethnic twist with the Ningos fully behind George, saying it is their turn to also take the seat after it has for so many years been in the hands of the Pramprams, the political royals. But the Ningo Prampram Constituency Chairman of the NDC, Mr Jacob Lartey Ayin, has made a timely intervention, advising the aspirants to conduct their campaign in a decorous and calm manner devoid of acrimony as well as tribal politics.