Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare
Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare a.k.a Kwaku Azar says Ghana as a country failed the late Adamu Dramani Sakande when the state decided to prosecute him on a charge of dual citizenship after the latter was duly elected to represent Bawku Central in Parliament.
Adamu Dramani Sakande, a former MP for Bawku Central, died in London at age 58, after a persistent heart problem.
The former MP, who won on the NPP ticket in 2012, GhanaWeb gathers, died on Tuesday evening.
“Hon Adamu Dramani Sakande joins the land of the silent ones this evening in London. He was a great father and an uncle,” a family source said.
Reacting to the sad news, Kwaku Azar, a KPMG Professor of Accounting argued that Ghana has been a trailblazer at reaching out to the African diaspora where international firms are routinely hired as transaction advisors, and in further, “where foreigners are daily enstooled as chiefs, it is bizarre that we will seek to disqualify Ghanaians from holding public office merely because they are, like Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah and Chairman Rawlings, citizens of other countries”.
Kwaku Azar, who wrote in a post on his Facebook timeline on Wednesday suggested that the decision as to whether or not a dual citizen can represent his constituency must be left to the constituents.
Prof Asare also stated: “The notion that a Ghanaian/German will not know who to fight for in a war between Ghana and Germany and so must be disqualified from serving as an MP makes as much sense as the notion that Kevin Prince Boateng will not know whether to attack the German or Ghanaian defence in a competitive soccer game and so must not be featured in not just such a game but also be disqualified from playing for Ghana.’
He continued: “We cannot be comfortable with hiring a Serbian to coach the Black Stars to play against Serbia and somehow prosecute Adamu Sakande, a natural-born Ghanaian, because he has been elected by his people to represent them.”
The spirit and spirit of Article 94(2)(a) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana frown upon any Ghanaian with dual citizenship from holding public office.
The said article reads, “A person shall not be qualified to be a Member of Parliament if he owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana.”
But Prof. Asare noted that the notion that dual citizens should not be allowed to compete in the political space is “highly outmoded” and called for the repeal of the aforementioned article.
Sakande, who was convicted of perjury and forgery, was reported to have been flown out of Ghana for medical attention in 2013 after he was granted a pardon by former President John Dramani Mahama because his health had deteriorated.
But Sakande denied the Daily Graphic report at the time, stating that an impression was created as though he had been bedridden and rushed abroad for medical attention.
“Yes, I am due for a medical check-up in the United Kingdom, but the impression is not as bad as [is] being suggested by sections of the media,” the former MP said.
An Accra Fast Track High Court, in 2012, sentenced Adamu Dramani Sakande to two years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of false declaration of office, perjury and deceit of a public officer.
A Bawku-based cattle dealer, Sumaila Bielbiel, had challenged the status of the MP for Bawku Central, Adamu Daramani Sakande in the law-making body due to his dual citizenship, something the 1992 Constitution frowns upon.
Whilst in jail, Sakande spent time receiving medical attention at the Cardiothoracic Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra. He was granted a presidential pardon on December 31, 2012, by the then President, John Dramani Mahama, on medical grounds.
Sakande contested the Bawku Central seat in 2008 and snatched it from Mahama Ayariga, the then incumbent.
He polled 20,157 votes, ahead of Ayariga’s 17,385 votes following a recount which saw ballots conveyed from Bawku to Bolgatanga, the regional capital of Upper East Region specifically for that purpose.
Adamu Dramani Sakande left behind a wife and two children.
