Amewu is an 'illegally' elected Member of Parliament - PPP

Vice Presidential candidate of the Progressive People’s Party, Kofi Asamoah Siaw has described the election of John Peter Amewu as illegal.

Mr. Asamoah-Siaw argues that the Electoral Commission should have divided the Hohoe constituency into two following the creation of the Oti Region.

He said the laws are clear on this hence the election of the Energy Minister as MP is illegal.

He wants the EC to rectify the illegality because the MP-elect is "a walking illegality."

“So in the end, as we speak, both the Old Hohoe Constituency and the New Hohoe Constituency are unknown to our laws and therefore none of them can pass as a legitimate and properly constructed constituency in compliance with article 47 and other relevant legislation."

It is, therefore, the case that the elections held in the “New Hohoe Constituency” is an illegality. That constituency did not exist at the time of the 2020 Parliamentary elections. The elections in the New Hohoe Constituency should be declared null and void until the two constituencies are properly created by the EC in accordance with law."

Read his full statement below:

Clause (1) of Article 47 of the 1992 Constitution says that: “Ghana shall be divided into as many constituencies for the purpose of election of members of parliament as the Electoral Commission may prescribe, and each constituency shall be represented by one member of Parliament.

Clause (2) of the same article 47 says as follows: “No constituency shall fall within more than one region.”

So with the creation of the Oti Region, which took part of the “Old Hohoe Constituency” into another region, what the EC had to do was to, by constitutional instrument, divide the “Old Hohoe Constituency” so that the boundaries of the Old Hohoe Constituency will not fall within both the Volta and Oti Regions.

So the EC had to create two NEW constituencies – one in the Oti Region and another in the Volta Region.

As it stands now, the “Two Constituencies” were not created by the Electoral Commission as required by law.

Firstly, the EC refused to recreate the “New Hohoe Constituency” by a fresh or new Constitutional Instrument to reflect the altered boundaries of the Old Hohoe Constituency occasioned by the creation of the Oti Region.

Secondly, the EC refused to create a New Constituency for the part of the Old Hohoe Constituency which now fall within the Oti Region.

In effect, the EC FAILED to create the Two New Constituencies as occasioned by the creation of the new Oti Region to comply with clause (2) of Article 47.

So in the end, as we speak, both the Old Hohoe Constituency and the New Hohoe Constituency are unknown to our laws and therefore none of them can pass as a legitimate and properly constructed constituency in compliance with article 47 and other relevant legislation.

It is, therefore, the case that the elections held in the “New Hohoe Constituency” is an illegality. That constituency did not exist at the time of the 2020 Parliamentary elections. The elections in the New Hohoe Constituency should be declared null and void until the two constituencies are properly created by the EC in accordance with law.

Accordingly, the Hon. Peter Amewu’s purported election cannot stand and hence he is a walking illegality.