The Akwatia Constituency by-election, held on September 2, 2025, has entered the vote-counting phase after polls closed at 5 p.m. across 119 polling stations in Ghana’s Eastern Region.
The Electoral Commission (EC) is overseeing the collation of results, with party agents, security personnel, and independent observers monitoring the process to ensure transparency. The by-election, triggered by the death of New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP Ernest Kumi in July 2025, is a tight contest between Solomon Asumadu of the NPP, Bernard Bediako Baidoo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and Patrick Owusu of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG).
Provisional results from 110 out of the 119 polling stations show the NDC’s Bernard Bediako Baidoo in the lead with 16,896 votes, while the NPP’s Solomon Asumadu trails with 13,763 votes. These figures indicate a competitive race, with the NDC holding a significant but not insurmountable advantage as the final nine polling stations’ results are yet to be tallied. The LPG’s Patrick Owusu has garnered minimal votes in earlier reports, and no specific figures for his performance in these 110 stations have been provided.
The collation process has not been without challenges. By 7:20 p.m. on election day, reports emerged that NPP officials and agents were absent from the collation centre, while NDC representatives were actively present, raising concerns about the NPP’s oversight of the vote-counting process. This absence could affect their ability to verify results or challenge any discrepancies. The EC has not yet commented on the situation, but the absence of NPP agents has sparked speculation about their strategy in this crucial by-election.
Akwatia is a well-known swing constituency, with a history of fiercely contested elections. Since 1992, the NPP has won the seat five times, while the NDC has secured it four times, often with narrow margins. In the 2024 general election, the late Ernest Kumi won the seat for the NPP by just 2,063 votes, highlighting the constituency’s competitive nature. Pre-election polls by Sanity Africa and Global InfoAnalytics had predicted a slight edge for the NDC’s Baidoo, and the provisional results so far align with those projections.
The by-election saw a strong security presence, with over 5,000 police officers deployed to maintain peace. Despite isolated incidents of tension, including a reported altercation where an NPP official was slapped by an NDC member’s escort, the Inspector General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, praised the overall peaceful conduct of the election. Security has been reinforced during the collation phase to prevent any disruptions.
The final results are expected to be announced by the Electoral Commission later tonight or early on September 3, 2025. With only nine polling stations left to report, the NDC’s lead appears strong, but the outcome remains uncertain until all votes are counted. The result of this by-election will not significantly alter the NDC’s supermajority in Parliament (184 seats) or the NPP’s minority status (88 seats), but it carries symbolic weight for both parties as a measure of their current popularity and organizational strength in a key battleground constituency.
More updates are expected as the EC finalizes the collation process and declares the official winner of the Akwatia by-election.
