Edward Kofi Osei, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) running for office in the Kumawu Constituency, has announced his withdrawal from the primary on Sunday.
The former managing director of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) claims that the party leadership expressed concerns about his dual citizenship as the reason behind his decision.
“I resigned to bring a sense of calmness to Kumawu and the party. I am a citizen of Ghana and also hold a United States passport,” he told a section of the media on Wednesday, April 19 at Kumawu.
Despite having dual citizenship, attorney Edward Osei took part in the 2020 NPP primary at Kumawu but lost to the late Philip Basoah.
“During the 2020 primary, I was vetted and passed successfully though I had a US passport,” he said.
“This was possible because under our Supreme Court interpretation of Article 94(2a) of the Ghana constitution which talks about owning an allegiance to another country. Republic V High Court Ex Parte Zanetor Rawlings affirmed that a person must qualify as an MP the time they submit their form to the EC.
“When the EC has not opened nomination, a person cannot be disqualified. In 2020, the elections were held on June 20, 2020, and the EC opened nominations on October 9, 2020, a whole five months lag. So If I had won the primary in 2020 there will have been a whole five months to prove my eligibility in 2020,” he stated.
Relatively, Kwaku Duah, an independent candidate in the Kumawu by-election, has stated that if elected as the constituency’s Member of Parliament, he will maintain his independence and make decisions that are best for his constituents and Ghana.
Due to what he believed to be unfair treatment, the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) member ran as an independent in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Mr. Duah claimed he received 11,698 votes in that election, compared to the late Philip Basoah of the NPP, who received 14,960 votes overall.
Given this context, he is confident that the Kumawu parliamentary elections will be a breeze.
