Imoro Yakubu Kakpagu (born February 1958) is a Ghanaian politician and a former member of the

Parliament of Ghana The Parliament of Ghana is the legislative body of the Government of Ghana. History Legislative representation in Ghana dates back to 1850, when the country was a British colony known as Gold Coast. The body, called the Legislative Council, ...

for the Kumbungu constituency in the Northern Region of Ghana from 2005 to 2013. He is a member of the National Democratic Congress.

Early life and education

Kakpagu was born in

Kumbungu Kumbungu is a town in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region of Ghana. Kumbungu is the capital of Kumbungu district. As of 2010, fertility rate in Kumbungu stood at 3.6 (above the national average of 3.5) and had a total population of 39,341 ...

in the Northern Region of Ghana in February 1958. He obtained his Local Government Certificate from the

Institute of Local Government Studies The Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) is a Government of Ghana institution established in 1999 with the mandate to educate students in public management and development. The institution is backed by Act of Parliament, 647 of 2003. The i ...

. After his studies he was employed at the Ministry of Local Government as a Revenue Inspector. In 2008 he graduated from the

Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) is a public co-educational university spread over four campuses (Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi) and made up of six schools, ten research centers located at Greenhill in Accra ...

with a Bachelor of Public Administration degree.

Political career

In 2004, Kakpagu entered into politics when he contested the Kumbungu parliamentary seat.

2004 elections

All those who stood for elections that year were new faces because the incumbent MP

Muhammad Mumuni Muhammad Mumuni (born 28 July 1949) is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. He was reelected to Ghana's Parliament in the 7 December 2012 General Elections, when he won the Kumbungu Seat. Mumuni left parliament in 2004 when he became John Atta M ...

had been chosen as the

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

of the NDC presidential candidate,

John Atta Mills John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (21 July 1944 – 24 July 2012) was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as President of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party ...

. Kakpagu competed with two other candidates namely, Prince Imoro Alhassan Andani of the

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

(NPP) and Mohammed Imoro of the

Convention People's Party The Convention People's Party (CPP) is a Socialism, socialist political party in Ghana based on the ideas of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. The CPP was formed in June 1949 after Nkrumah broke away from the United Gold Coast Conven ...

(CPP). He won the election with 22,245 votes which represented 77.50% of the total votes cast. His closest rival was the NPP candidate who got 5,968 votes which represented 20.80% of the total votes cast. The CPP candidate came third with 498 votes representing 1.70%.

2008 elections

In 2008 there was no constituency primary as the opposition NDC decided that Kakpagu contest the election on the party's ticket unopposed. He went on to retain his seat after he had been challenged by two candidates Alidu Binda Talhat of the NPP and Peter Ibrahim Neidow of the CPP. The incumbent won with 18,155 votes which represented 67.83% of the total votes cast. The NPP candidate got 6,096 votes which represented 22.78% and the CPP candidate got 2,515 votes which represented 9.40% of the total votes.

2012 parliamentary primaries

In the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections, former MP Muhammed Mumuni, returned to contest the seat. He defeated the sitting MP, Kakpagu in the constituency

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, who was then the Foreign Minister, got 161 votes while the incumbent had 133 votes. Muhammad Mumuni won the constituency parliamentary election with 18,285 votes (56.57%). He defeated four candidates: Abdulai Mohammed Saani of the NPP,

Amadu Moses Yahaya Moses Amadu Yahaya is a Ghanaian building technician, politician and was a Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu constituency in the Northern Region of Ghana. He is a member of the Convention Peoples' Party. Professional life Yahaya worked ...

of the CPP, Alhassan Abukari of the Progressive People's Party, and Imoro Issahaku of the National Democratic Party.

2013 constituency primary by-elections

In April 2013, he contested the constituency seat after Muhammad Mumuni vacated it to take up an international appointment. This was after he had contested and won the constituency's parliamentary primary elections against four other candidates. The primaries were held on 14 April 2013 at temporal Kumbungu district assembly yard. Hon. Kakpagu got 170 votes out of a total of 289 valid votes cast. His closest competitor, Dr Jacob Yakubu, pulling 84 votes.

2013 by-elections

The opposition New Patriotic Party did not partake in the by-elections because of the petition that the leadership of the party had filed at the Supreme Court regarding results of the 2012 Elections. Kakpagu lost the election to

Moses Amadu Yahaya Moses Amadu Yahaya is a Ghanaian building technician, politician and was a Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu constituency in the Northern Region of Ghana. He is a member of the Convention Peoples' Party. Professional life Yahaya worked ...

of the Convention Peoples' Party. His loss meant that the two terms he served as MP for the Kumbungu Constituency was sandwiched between MP terms for Muhammed Mumuni.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakpagu, Imoro Yakubu National Democratic Congress (Ghana) politicians Ghanaian MPs 2009–2013 Living people Ghanaian Muslims Ghanaian MPs 2005–2009 Dagomba people 1958 births People from Northern Region (Ghana) Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration alumni