MP resigns

• Posted on June 10, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Talensi seat in the Upper East Region has officially been declared vacant by the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, following the resignation of the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP, Robert Nachinab Doameng Mosore, who is now the paramount chief of Tongo in the region.

The MP decided to tender in his resignation letter after a marathon meeting with the Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho, on Monday regarding the former’s status as a paramount chief.

Article 276 of the 1992 Constitution, which states that a chief shall not take part in active party politics and that any chief wishing to do so and seeking election to Parliament shall abdicate his stool or skin, prevents chiefs from dabbling in party politics because of their revered position.

The Speaker yesterday made the announcement about the vacant seat on the floor and directed the Clerk of Parliament to accordingly notify the Electoral Commission (EC) about the vacancy for the Commission to begin the process for a by-election.

After the EC has been officially informed, it will also announce a date for the impending by-election as well as the timetable for it.
Article 112 (5) of the Constitution as amended states: “Whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk of Parliament shall notify the Electoral Commission in writing within seven days after becoming aware that the vacancy has occurred; and a by-election shall be held within thirty days after the vacancy occurred except that where the vacancy occurred through the death of a member, the by-election shall be held within sixty days after the occurrence of the vacancy.”

Majority MPs were obviously happy that the Talensi seat had been declared vacant because they think their party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will use incumbency advantage to win the seat which had traditionally been an NDC seat.

The NDC MPs, led by Muhammed Mubarak Muntaka, had mounted pressure on the Speaker to declare the seat vacant and Edward Doe Adjaho yielded by announcing last Friday that he would take a final decision on the contentious case yesterday.

Robert Mosore beat the then NDC MP, John Akologo Tia, now Ambassador to Cuba, in the 2012 general elections.

It was the first time the NPP had won the seat and the stakes will be high as the two major political parties battle to win it again.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr