The New Patriotic Party has served notice that it has written to Parliament seeking the expulsion of its Member of Parliament for Fomena, Amoako Andrew Asiamah from the august house.
In a statement signed by General Secretary John Boadu, the party says the MP by his decision to contest as an independent candidate in the 2020 December elections has forfeited his seat in parliament, as his actions in essence breaches article 97 (1)(g) of the 1992 constitution.
“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.
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,” portions of the release reads.
In the same vein, the NPP in the release served notice that under Article 3(9) of the party Constitution, any member who decided to file as an Independent Parliamentary Candidate in the upcoming elections has automatically forfeited their membership from the very day they filed with the Electoral Commission.
Further, the NPP says, “any member of the Party who supports or campaigns for an Independent Parliamentary Candidate ahead of the forthcoming general elections also automatically forfeits his/her membership of the NPP”.
The Party has, however, commended its members who may have contemplated contesting as independent candidates but have given up their plans and made specific mention of the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Mercy Adu-Gyamfi, popularly known as Ama Sey “for paying heed to wise counsel and deciding not to file as Independent Candidate but to rather support the Party’s 2020 Parliamentary Candidate for the Akwatia Constituency, Mr Ernest Yaw Kumi, to retain the Akwatia Seat”.
Ahead of the December 2020 general elections, some disgruntled NPP members, mostly those disqualified from contesting in the party’s parliamentary primaries have filed nominations to contest as independent candidates in their respective constituencies.
Even though the party says it had taken measures to keep the wantaway members from contesting in the upcoming elections as independent candidates, some of them have successfully filed their nominations with the Electoral Commission and will appear on the ballot come December 7.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
