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THE ASHANTI regional branch of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) has concluded the vetting of its prospective parliamentary candidates in the region. The exercise, which commenced on Monday September 26 and ended on Friday September 30, saw 79 aspiring parliamentary candidates being taken through vetting process. Eighty potential members of the party filed their nomination in 36 constituencies in the region to become the ruling party�s parliamentary candidates but 79 of them were vetted. One Nana Acheampong, who filed nomination to contest the polls in the Asante Mampong constituency, could not be vetted because he was scheduled to travel with the party�s General Secretary outside the country. Because he could not be available for the vetting which was held at the party�s regional office at Asafo, the national coordinator of the National Mosquito Spraying Exercise wrote a formal letter asking to be excused. In an interview with Daily Guide, the regional secretary of the party, Joseph Yamin, disclosed that all prospective candidates, except one, were given the green light to contest the upcoming polls. He pointed out that a certain Opoku Acheampong who filed nomination to contest in the Ahafo Ano North constituency was disqualified for his inability to get at least a polling station executive from each of the polling stations in the constituency to endorse his form. According to him, as per the regulations governing the forthcoming elections, every potential candidate was required to get an endorsement from at least a polling station executive in each of the polling stations in his/her constituency. Mr. Yamin revealed that out of the 79 prospective candidates who were vetted, eight of them were women. He indicated that Nana Acheampong, who could not be vetted due to his travel schedule, would be duly taken through the process immediately he returned from his trip. The regional secretary stated that the national secretariat of the party would in due course come up with a date for the vetting of potential candidates in the three constituencies in the region where the party has sitting Members of Parliament (MPs). Though he could not tell the exact date the parliamentary polls would be started in the region, Mr. Yamin said every constituency was required to have completed its parliamentary primaries by October 30. When asked to give his general assessment of the vetting exercise, Mr. Yamin noted that the exercise proceeded smoothly.