Andrew Amoako Asiamah loses Fomena seat in parliament as speaker Mike Ocquaye declares it vacant

The lawmaker had lost the bid in the New Patriotic Party’s primary to represent the constituency for another four years on its ticket.

He became disgruntled and chose to go independent, a move that threatens the NPP’s chances of winning the Fomena constituency seat.

Speaking on the floor of parliament on Saturday, speaker Prof Mike Ocquaye said: “With all intents and purposes, he is no longer a member of the party. 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.” 

The declaration comes on the backdrop of a petition filed to the legislature by the NPP, seeking Andrew Amoako Asiamah’s expulsion from the house having dismissed him from the party due to his decision to run as an independent candidate.

All efforts by the NPP including president Akufo Addo to talk the MP out of his decision to go independent have failed as he remains adamant.

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He had recently called the bluff of the NPP’s quest to get him out of parliament, saying: “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.” 

Well, speaker Prof Mike Ocquaye has finally put the matter to rest after weeks of silence.

“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,” he argued.

He explained that a “sitting MP will be campaigning against the party that he/she represents in Parliament and yet ridiculously stands against the party” is not conduct to be countenanced, adding that “no purposeful interpretation of the law will allow such ridicule to prevail.”

According to article 97 (1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, 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.