3 times Parliament has declared seats vacant in 2025

Ghana’s 9th parliament appears to have faced some turbulent times in 2025, particularly regarding the issue of vacant seats.

Three constituencies have had their lawmakers’ seats declared vacant due to unfortunate events that occurred within the year.

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From the demise of MPs to a court declaration, this GhanaWeb article highlights the number of times seats have been declared vacant under the 9th Parliament.

Akwatia Constituency

The constituency was dealt a major blow following the demise of its lawmaker, Ernest Kumi.

In a statement read by the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, on behalf of the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, on Friday, August 1, 2025, it was announced that Kumi died from heart failure.

Following his demise, his seat was declared vacant in line with Article 112(5) of the 1992 Constitution by the Electoral Commission, which required a by-election.

Tamale Central Constituency

Similar to the Akwatia Constituency, the people of Tamale Central were met with the news of their representative’s demise after a tragic helicopter crash on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, claimed his life.

Dr Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed, a former Minister of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST) and seven others, including high profile government officials, met their untimely deaths while enroute to Obuasi in the Ashanti Region aboard a Z-9EH military helicopter.

They were attending the launch of the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP).

Following the incident, his seat was declared vacant in accordance with the constitution, leading to a by-election.

Kpandai Constituency

The latest constituency to face a vacant seat declaration is the Kpandai Constituency.

This follows a ruling by the High Court in Tamale ordering a rerun of the parliamentary elections in Kpandai.

On November 24, 2025, the court also directed the Electoral Commission to conduct fresh polls within 30 days.

The ruling followed a petition filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, Daniel Nsala Wakpal, challenging the declaration of Matthew Nyindam as the Member of Parliament for Kpandai.

Wakpal argued that the December 7, 2024, parliamentary election was fraught with irregularities.

He cited inconsistencies in Pink Sheets (Form 8A) from 41 out of 152 polling stations and asked the court to nullify results from only those affected polling centers.

Parliament officially notifies EC of vacant Kpandai seat

In delivering his verdict, judge Emmanuel Brew Plange, ruled that the irregularities identified were significant enough to affect the integrity of the entire electoral process in the constituency.

He subsequently ordered a complete rerun of the parliamentary election in Kpandai in the next 30 days.

MAG/AE

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