Lawyer Andrew Egyapa Mercer, incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for Sekondi Constituency in the Western Region has retained his seat after beating his main contender Mr Charles Hagan, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) aspirant.
Lawyer Mercer secured victory in the just ended 2020 general elections with a total of 17,259 valid votes while Mr Charles Hagan of the NDC garnered 10,310 valid votes with Madam Eleanor Appiah Effie of GUM garnering 468 of the valid votes.
The total valid ballots was 28,037 with 237 rejected ballots and total votes cast recording 28,274.
This would be Lawyer Mercer’s second term in Parliament after securing the seat for the first tin in the 2016 general elections.
Lawyer Andrew Kofi Egyapa Mercer was born on 25 May 1973 in Sekondi in the Western Region to Mr James Mercer, a Ghanaian lawyer and diplomat.
He attended Chapel Hill Preparatory School in Takoradi for his primary education and proceeded to the Adisadel College in Cape Coast, where he obtained both his GCE Ordinary level and GCE Advanced level certificates.
He gained admission into the University of Ghana, graduating with Honours in Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and Bachelor of Law.
He studied at the Ghana School of Law and qualified as a lawyer in Ghana after passing his BAR examination.
Egyapa Mercer commenced his work with Messrs Acquah-Sampon and Associates, a firm of solicitors based in Accra in 2004 and joined First Atlantic Bank in Accra in 2007 as an Assistant Manager and advanced to become the head of the Legal Department.
He worked at First Atlantic for some time and then resigned in 2013 to set up the Mercer Company, a corporate and investment law firm based in Accra.
Egyapa Mercer began his Political career in 2011 when he contested the Sekondi Constituency NPP parliamentary primary of which he lost to the incumbent Papa Owusu-Ankomah.
He decided to contest the 2016 parliamentary election again on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, after then-incumbent MP Mr Owusu-Ankomah decided against contesting the seat he had won five successive times.
As a Member of Parliament, Mr Mercer engaged actively with his constituents and fulfilled promises he had made on his campaign trail.
Some contributions to his constituency include the donation of five desktop computers and accessories costing US$ 4,000 to the Sekondi Library and the construction of ultra modern Astro Turf to promote sports.
He also helped to repay the debt owed the Ghana Football Association by Sekondi Eleven Wise, a Division one league club based in the constituency, with an amount of GH₵ 5,000.00.
Story: Seth Ameyaw Danquah
