John Kumah passes on

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Kumah, has passed away at the age of 45.

Sketchy details emerging indicated that Dr Kumah died in Accra after a short illness.

However, the cause of death of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Ejisu is unknown.

Dr Kumah, a lawyer by training, was appointed as the Deputy Finance Minister in 2021.

He was last seen in Parliament last Tuesday when he took part in the proceedings of the day and even engaged a few of his colleague MPs.
 

Moody atmosphere 

When news of his death broke out among his colleagues during proceedings in the House yesterday, the atmosphere in Parliament changed suddenly.

A number of MPs suddenly became moody, with the climate within the chamber turning sombre.

In the process, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare, was spotted struggling to control her emotions on the floor of the House in the company of NPP MP for Ablekuma South, Sheila Bartels.

Sooner than later, Mrs Osei-Asare walked out of the Chamber in tears and was seen reclining her head on the shoulder of Ms Bartels minutes later.

Other MPs, on hearing the news, also came out of the Chamber to console her. 

Not long afterwards, the Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, requested the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, to suspend the House for 10 minutes.

However, when the proceedings resumed after almost 30 minutes, the First Deputy Minority Whip, Ibrahim Ahmed, prayed the Speaker to adjourn the debate on the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Upon heeding the request of Mr Ahmed, the Speaker said, “For a good reason, the House would have to adjourn”.

Who was Dr Kumah?

Prior to becoming the MP for Ejisu in 2020, Dr Kumah was appointed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the first Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP).

Under his leadership, the programme trained 7,000 startups in 2018 under the Presidential Business Support Programme and supported 1,350 beneficiaries with funds.

Even before being appointed as the CEO, he was the founding member and Managing Partner of Aduaprokye Chambers, a law firm.

He was also the founder of Majak Associates Ltd, a building and construction company.

In November 2020, Dr Kumah received a Doctorate in Business Innovation from the Swiss Business School in Switzerland.

Prior to that, he had acquired a Masters in Applied Business Research at the same Business School in 2019.