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Ghana’s parliament has declared the Fomena seat vacant following a decision by the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP to seek re-election as an independent candidate.
This was after Mr. Andrew Amoako Asiamah lost the parliamentary primary held by the party in June this year to a fresh face.
“With all intents and purposes, he is no longer a member of the party”, Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Prof Aaron Mike Ocquaye was quoted by myjoyonline.com on Saturday.
“He has pronounced himself publicly as an independent and has filed his papers to compete against the party in his official candidate as an independent on 7th December 2020,” he further posited.
This comes on the back of a letter by the leadership of the NPP to expel Mr. Amoako Asiamah, the incumbent MP from the party after he decided to run as an independent candidate in the upcoming general elections.
President Akufo-Addo at a durbar in Fomena on Wednesday also expressed his disappointment in the MP’s refusal to rescind the decision.
Mr. Amoako Asiamah had told Joy News that he is not leaving the 7th Parliament despite a request to send him packing.
“If they have sacked me, I am still part of them…They are saying they have dismissed me but I am still winning for the party,” the MP had told Joy FM.
Speaking on the floor, however, Prof Mike Ocquaye read the ruling in support of the NPP’s request for Mr. Amoako Asiamah’s seat to be rendered vacant.
“Having forfeited the membership of the party on whose ticket he was elected, to parliament, the operative language of the constitution is that, he shall – which is mandatory – vacate his seat in Parliament,” the Speaker said.
Article 97 (1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana indicates that a member of parliament shall vacate his seat if he leaves the party of which he was a member at the time of his election to Parliament to join another party or seeks to remain in Parliament as an independent member.
Many aspiring MPs in the ruling government have broken away to contest as independent candidates after either being disqualified or lost to fresh faces.
In the Ashanti Region for instance at least 10 of such candidates have emerged from the party in at least six constituencies.
Political watchers say the development could affect the party’s electoral fortunes, especially at its strongholds.
Source: Daily Mail GH||J. Ofori
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