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The Member of Parliament for Fomena Constituency, Andrew Asiamah Amoako has been declared the second deputy speaker of the 8th Parliament.
The renowned lawyer who won the Fomena seat as an independent candidate was declared the second deputy speaker of Parliament during the Constitution of the 8th Parliament on Thursday morning.[ads2]
Andrew Asiamah Amoako is a Ghanaian lwyer, politician and member of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana, elected to office in December 2020 as an independent candidate. He currently represents the Fomena Constituency in the Ashanti Region.
He describes himself as a man whose priority is to serve his community selflessly and with humility. He states that his primary goal in politics is to “safeguard equality for everyone by ensuring that no one is left out in the distribution of our national resources.”[ads3]
After losing in the primaries prior to the 2020 general elections, he decided to run as an independent candidate. He had been a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), which, citing Article 3(9) of its constitution, revoked his membership and notified the Speaker of Parliament, who duly declared his seat vacant on 13 October 2020 under the provisions of Article 97 (1)g of the Constitution.
Amoako objected on the grounds that being expelled from the party did not mean he was no longer a member of parliament, and that only the Parliament of Ghana could revoke his position as an elected MP.
Legal practitioner Kwaku Asare agreed with Amoako, arguing that such a decision is a legal matter which falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court, as specified by Article 99(1) of the Constitution.[ads4]
Amoako won the Fomena parliamentary seat during the December 2020 elections with 12,805 votes, defeating his main opponent from his former party, Philip Ofori-Asante, who secured 10,798 votes.
His position as an independent member of parliament became even more significant after the 2020 parliamentary elections, given that neither of the two main political parties (NPP and NDC) could secure an outright majority.
In a post-election interview, Amoako indicated that he had no ill-feelings towards the NPP over the termination of his party membership. The General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, has suggested that Amoako could reapply for his NPP membership subject to specific party regulations and conditions…[ads5]
