The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, yesterday formally confirmed the sudden passing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Akwatia, Ernest Yaw Kumi, in Parliament.
He said it was quite regrettable that he would be the carrier of the message to the House.
He told the House that the MP was seen over the weekend hale and hearty and was able to undertake his committee work, and before that, “we all saw him in the plenary”.
Young, bright politician
At the commencement of yesterday’s proceedings, Mr Afenyo-Markin described Mr Kumi as a young politician from the Eastern Region who was serving his first term in Parliament.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said the NPP minority had been struck by the “sudden demise of our brother, Ernest Kumi of Akwatia”.
Mr Kumi is said to have died of cardiac arrest.
Parliament and its leadership expressed their condolences to the bereaved family and the people of Akwatia who “found him worthy of their trust and, therefore, elected him to represent them”.
“Mr Speaker, we know this is sudden, it was unexpected, and the member was not seen as somebody who was unwell, but I would say God knows best,” he said.
Touching on his background, he said Mr Kumi was born in 1984, pursued his first degree and per his public records, he pursued three second degrees-an MBA in Corporate Governance, an LLB in law, MSc in Defence and International Politics,” he said.
The Minority Leader said Mr Kumi served previously as a security manager prior to joining Parliament.
He said his records in the House, both at the plenary and committee levels, were “quite profound and known to all”.
“This brother had all that anybody would want to have in a brother; he lived the prayer of this House ‘a country of righteousness where none shall wrong his neighbour’”.
“No one can ever say that in his few months in this chamber, he was controversial or wronged his colleagues; he was always there, seeing him every day happy,” he said.
Acknowledging that the House had programmed a couple of businesses yesterday, he said it was the prayer of the Minority Caucus that the day’s proceedings be terminated “as we observe a minute of silence in his honour”.
“Mr Speaker, it is a very sad day for a family, to a constituency, to democracy, to Parliament and the people of Ghana,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said the NPP minority had been struck by the “sudden demise of our brother, Ernest Kumi of Akwatia”.
Mr Kumi is said to have died of cardiac arrest.
Parliament and its leadership expressed their condolences to the bereaved family and the people of Akwatia who “found him worthy of their trust and, therefore, elected him to represent them”.
“Mr Speaker, we know this is sudden, it was unexpected, and the member was not seen as somebody who was unwell, but I would say God knows best,” he said.
Touching on his background, he said Mr Kumi was born in 1984, pursued his first degree and per his public records, he pursued three second degrees-an MBA in Corporate Governance, an LLB in law, MSc in Defence and International Politics,” he said.
The Minority Leader said Mr Kumi served previously as a security manager prior to joining Parliament.
He said his records in the House, both at the plenary and committee levels, were “quite profound and known to all”.
“This brother had all that anybody would want to have in a brother; he lived the prayer of this House ‘a country of righteousness where none shall wrong his neighbour’”.
“No one can ever say that in his few months in this chamber, he was controversial or wronged his colleagues; he was always there, seeing him every day happy,” he said.
Acknowledging that the House had programmed a couple of businesses yesterday, he said it was the prayer of the Minority Caucus that the day’s proceedings be terminated “as we observe a minute of silence in his honour”.
“Mr Speaker, it is a very sad day for a family, to a constituency, to democracy, to Parliament and the people of Ghana,” he said.
Saddest day
For his part, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, said it was one of the saddest days of the House.
He touted Mr Kumi as “very bright” who accomplished a lot in diverse fields of his education.
“This shows that this is a very studious young man; at that age, he believed in democracy,” he said, adding that he participated effectively in parliamentary proceedings.
“To be taken away from us at this stage in his life is not only a loss to his family and Akwatia, but it is a loss to Ghana because we would not know where he would have ended up in terms of the leadership of this country,” he said.
The Minority and the Majority leaders appealed to the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor, to adjourn the day’s proceedings, which he heeded.
