He said his decision to go independent was because of the unfair treatment meted out to him by the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
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2020 elections: NPP treated me unfairly - Aggrieved independent candidate speaks
Bernard Oduro Takyi, an aggrieved independent parliamentary candidate for the Sunyani West Constituency in the Brong Ahafo Region has voiced out reasons why he decided to contest the elections as an independent candidate in the December 2020 polls.
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Bernard Oduro Takyi who was dismissed from the NPP in July 2020 said he was treated unfairly by allowing the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations to go unopposed in the parliamentary primaries.
Speaking on Accra-based Citi FM, he said the NPP frustrated him for no good reason.
"The party said I was not due for the contest at the vetting level. Then I wrote officially to the party to find out why I was not vetted. I got no response. I then filed an appeal at the party’s parliamentary appeal committee on March 13. On March 18, I met the committee chaired by Peter Mac Manu. They could not give a substantial reason. Days later, I got intel that they are bent on the disqualification. I quickly wrote a letter to John Boadu in April seeking why I was not vetted to go through. No response came. I wrote a letter to the President himself, still no response," he stated, adding that "The party I loved most never treated me fairly. So I decided that if the elephant will not allow me to ride on its back to Parliament, I will find another way to enter."
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However, the party has disowned all parliamentary aspirants who are contesting the 2020 elections as independent candidates.
According to the General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, "The party has noted that the Member of Parliament for the Fomena Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Hon. Amoako Andrew Asiamah, who was elected to Parliament on the ticket of the party, has filed to contest as an independent parliamentary candidate. By so doing, he has presumably vacated his seat in parliament pursuant to Article 97(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic."
In a statement, he said "For the avoidance of doubt, Article 97(1)(g) of the Constitution states that: ‘A member of Parliament shall vacate his seat in Parliament 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'.
"The party has, therefore, taken the necessary steps to inform the Speaker of Parliament of the above circumstances, for appropriate action to be taken."
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