Dr. Rasheed Draman, Executive Director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), believes the demise of Akwatia’s Member of Parliament, Ernest Yaw Kumi, might prompt Parliament to institute measures that will prioritise the health and wellbeing of legislators.
Aside from enacting laws, the Parliamentary Affairs expert notes his organisation has undertaken a project in recent years focused on prioritising the health and wellbeing of parliamentarians.
The “Mindfulness” project, he says, isn’t limited to Ghana but extends to other parts of the continent, given the similar challenges faced by lawmakers across the sub-region.
Speaking on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Monday, July 7, 2025, Dr. Draman advised that lawmakers should strive for better work-life balance to prevent their duties from overwhelming them.
“In the last year or so I’ve had engagements with some people, looking at not only in Ghana, we were trying to start something that we titled, ‘Mindfulness’, making sure that not only do our Members of Parliament go to Parliament to make laws and provide oversight but also focus some attention on how they balance, or the pressures that’s on them and their work. Because this came as a result of some commentary from some MPs here in Ghana but also something that we’ve seen elsewhere,” he disclosed.
He cited a comment by a former Speaker of the Parliament of Tanzania, who noted that many MPs tend to die prematurely after leaving office due to the pressures of their work, which often leaves them little time to care for themselves.
Dr. Draman emphasised that Parliament should take a cue from this and ensure lawmakers prioritise their health amidst their busy schedules.
“Perhaps, this might be a wake-up call for our Parliament to really take this matter seriously because we don’t want to lose our MPs. We don’t want to lose any of our citizens. We don’t want to lose MPs who are busy serving this country, particularly, someone at the prime of his age,” he stated.
His comments followed the official confirmation of the demise of the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Ernest Yaw Kumi, by the Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, to Parliament on Monday, July 7, 2025.
According to him, it was quite regrettable that he would be the carrier of the message to the House. He informed Parliament 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”.
At the commencement of yesterday’s proceedings, Afenyo-Markin described Kumi as a young politician from the Eastern Region who was serving his first term in Parliament.
He 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 Kumi was born in 1984, pursued his first degree and per his public records, 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 on Monday, 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.
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.
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