Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, a surgeon, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, has taken the seat from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Essikado-Ketan Constituency.
She polled 26,166 votes to beat Mr Charles Bissue, the NPP candidate, who had 17,754.
Mr Bissue a former Secretary of the Interministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, replaced Joe Ghartey, the two decades Member of Parliament for the area.
Mr Victor Kweku Asigbey, the Retuning officer at the Essikado-Ketan Collation Centre, said the election saw a voter turnout of 79,344.
The keenly contested election saw pockets of agitations, destruction of ballot boxes and even assault on security personnel at the collation centre in the people’s bid to prevent what they alleged was a planned “diversionary and rigging” tactics by the other contenders.
A standby generator and additional streetlights were fixed as quick interventions for any light out.
Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, who lost the election to Joe Ghartey in 2020, said she believed that her lost was “man-made.”
“So, we strategically took all our agents in active learning on the processes to avoid the repetition of history as it did four years ago,” she told the Ghana News Agency in an interview.
The surgeon turned politician promised to work hard for the constituents to secure them jobs, skills development, and basic infrastructure and social needs.
She lauded her campaign team and the constituency for the great achievement for the party.
Dr Ayensu-Danquah is skilled in Medical Education, Body Contouring, Aesthetics, Medicine, and Laparoscopic Surgery, she had worked both in and outside Ghana.
She is a gender advocate, humanitarian surgeon, educationist, and philanthropist.
The parliamentary candidate-elect holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and a Medical degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
She is a double board-certified surgeon trained in general and reconstructive surgery, having completed a trauma and burn fellowship.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health in International Health Management and Planning with special certification in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene Public Health.
Dr. Ayensu-Danquah has worked in private practice in the United States of America and holds licenses to practice in California, Michigan, and Maryland.
In Ghana, she runs a private surgical facility in Accra.
She is the Founder of Healing Hands Organization, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to providing medical and surgical care to the poor and needy who have no access to proper healthcare.
The organisation also provides free medical supplies and equipment to clinics and hospitals in rural areas.
Dr. Ayensu-Danquah is a member of the Ghana FDA Advisory Team for Vaccines and Biological products and a board member of Days for Girls International Ghana.
She is a Professor of Medicine at the Center for Global Surgery at the University of Utah in the United States, a lecturer at the Cape Coast University Medical School, and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.
GNA
JP/ABD
9 Dec. 2024
