Former NPP MP, Adamu Daramani Sakande, dead

Former NPP Member of Parliament, Adamu Daramani Sakande has been reported dead. He was a former Member of Parliament for the Bawku Central Constituency, in the Upper East region.

Ghanaweb has reported that Adamu Daramani died on Tuesday evening in London, United Kingdom.

“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 told theghanareport.

The ruling NPP former lawmaker, 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 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 medical check-up in the United Kingdom, but the impression is not as bad as being suggested by sections of the media,” the former MP said.

The 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.

Sakande spent time receiving medical attention whilst in jail at the cardiothoracic unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, but was granted a presidential pardon on December 31, 2012, by the then President, John Dramani Mahama, based on medical grounds.

Sakande contested the Bawku Central seat on the ticket of the ruling NPP in the 2008 election and snatched it from Mahama Ayariga, the incumbent.

He polled 20,157 of the ballots ahead of Ayariga’s 17,385 following a second recount which saw ballots conveyed from Bawku to Bolgatanga specifically for that purpose.

The 1992 Constitution of Ghana forbids persons with dual citizenship from becoming lawmakers.

Adamu Dramani Sakande was 58-years-old. He left behind a wife and two children.

Friends and loved ones have taken to social media to mourn the late statesman.

“It is unusual of me to report on sad news but this is too much! Is a SAD evening for me. I just got information from his family that my personal person and boss, Hon Adamu Daramani (Former MP for Bawku Central) has responded to his Maker’s call in his London residence. May Allah grant him good rest…”, one Abdul-Razak Lukman wrote on Facebook.