Legal practitioner Bernard Bediako Baidoo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has won the keenly contested Akwatia by-election, reclaiming a critical swing seat from the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Baidoo secured 18,199 votes (54%), defeating his main challenger, Solomon Kwame Asumadu of the NPP, who garnered 15,235 votes. Owusu Patrick of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) finished a distant third with 82 votes.
The victory rebalances the political equation in Akwatia, a constituency where the NPP previously held a narrow 5–4 advantage in parliamentary representation since the return to multiparty democracy in 1992.
Baidoo’s triumph comes after an intense campaign and competitive NDC primaries in August, where he outpolled Erasmus Koney Ali and former MP Henry Yiadom Boakye to secure the party’s ticket.
In the 2024 general election, the late Ernest Yaw Kumi of the NPP won the Akwatia seat with 19,269 votes, defeating Boakye of the NDC, who polled 17,206 votes, a margin of just over 2,000 votes.
Election Day Drama
The by-election was not without incidents. Police arrested a man accused of tearing down campaign posters at a polling station, an act that could have sparked unrest but was quickly contained.
Later in the day, a confrontation broke out at the Akwatia lorry station in the Vawaso Electoral Areabetween Alhaji Osman Masawudu, NPP’s Third National Vice Chairman, and a member of the escort team of Chief Sofo Azorka, NDC’s Vice Chairman. Police at the scene swiftly intervened to restore calm.
With this win, Bernard Baidoo not only delivers the NDC a symbolic victory but also reestablishes the party’s foothold in one of Ghana’s most fiercely contested constituencies.
