Dr. Obed Asamoah questions Attorney General’s proposal for a re-run of Buem parliamentary election

A former Attorney General & Minister for Justice, Dr. Obed Yao Asamoah, has described as needless the proposal to annul the Buem constituency parliamentary election and re-run it to include Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi and Likpe (SALL) areas of the Oti Region.

Dr. Asamoah, who is a native of the SALL area, was reacting to a proposal from government through the Attorney General Godfred Dame. Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, the Attorney General said he will propose that the 2020 parliamentary elections in the Buem constituency is annulled and re-run to ensure that the people of SALL are duly represented.

The Electoral Commission, hours to the start of the December 7, 2020 elections announced that exclusion of the SALL areas from the parliamentary elections, a development the people of the area and many concerned Ghanaians have spoken and condemned.

Dr. Asamoah in an interview on CitiFM, monitored by WoezorTV News, said the proposal for fresh polls to cover SALL residents is not the panacea to the absence of parliamentary representation for the affected areas.

“I don’t think I appreciate what he is proposing. If there is a re-run for the parliamentary elections in Buem, and SALL is not part of Buem, how is that going to take place? Unless they are proposing that they are going to make SALL part of Buem, which I don’t think is justified”, the former Attorney General noted.

He advised the government to instead direct its focus towards the creation of a new Guan constituency for the people of SALL, since this will be the only legitimate way for the people to be duly represented in the 8th parliament.

“I don’t understand what they are trying to propose. The people of SALL are in Guan right now, and the Guan District that was created is for the people of SALL so what is needed now is for a constituency so that by the next election they can have a parliamentary candidate; that for me is more feasible”, Dr. Obed Asamoah intimated.

Two years after the people of SALL were compelled by the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission to vote in the 2020 presidential elections but prevented from voting in the parliamentary elections, they remain without representation in parliament. 

Already, residents and chiefs of the areas have kicked strongly against attempts to add them to the Buem Constituency. They continue to advocate for the creation of their own constituency, the Guan constituency.