L-R: Jerry Ahmed Shaib and Mustapha Ussif
The number of sports personalities within the New Patriotic Party (NPP) minority caucus in the ninth Parliament of the Fourth Republic has decreased following the 2024 general elections.
The NPP, who previously had three sports figures in the eighth Parliament, now have just two. The party had aimed to double its representation of sports personalities in parliament but only two out of the six sports personalities who contested the 2024 elections were successful.
The constituencies lost by the NPP sports figures include Ahafo Ano South East, Sunyani West, Asunafo North, and Asuogyaman.
Here are the two sports personalities on the NPP caucus in the ninth Parliament
Jerry Ahmed Shaib
Jerry Ahmed Shaib won the Weija Gbawe Constituency parliamentary seat in the Greater Accra Region. He amassed 32,608, which represents 51.70% of the total votes.
He has taken his political career a notch higher as he enters parliament for the first time.
He is the President of the Ghana Weightlifting Federation and Assistant Secretary of the Ghana Olympic Committee.
Mustapha Ussif
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif, won the parliamentary seat in Yagaba-Kubori in the Northern Region, retaining the seat for the second time.
He garnered 18,917 votes, while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Musah Sibiri Amidu, polled 11,385 votes. There were 30,302 votes cast, with 497 being rejected.
The former sports minister is among the few NPP MPs who survived the tsunami that befell the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government in the parliamentary and presidential elections.
EE/EK
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