This was after Mr. Andrew Amoako Asiamah lost the parliamentary primary held by the party in June this year to a new candidate
“With all intents and purposes, he is no longer a member of the party”, Speaker of Parliament, Prof Aaron Mike Ocquaye stated 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.
The leadership of the NPP had earlier written a letter to expel Mr. Amoako Asiamah, the incumbent MP from the party after he decided to run as an independent candidate in the forthcoming December 7 parliamentary election.
President Akufo-Addo at a durbar in Fomena expressed his disappointment in the MP’s refusal to rescind the decision.
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.
Source: Kasapafmonline.com/102.5FM
