Akatsi South MP takes seat in Parliament

The main opposition, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), refused to take part in the by-election as a result of its legal tussle with the Electoral Commission over the results of the general election in December 2012.

Mr Ahiafor swore the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Member of Parliament.

Mr Adjaho said the Clerk to Parliament, Mr Emmanuel Kwasi Anyimadu, received the writ of election from the Electoral Commission declaring Mr Ahiafor as the winner of the election.

He reminded the new member to be an MP both for those who voted for him and those who did not vote for him during the by-election.

Welcoming him, the Minority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said he did not want to believe that the alacrity with which the new MP had been sworn in was because of threats by an aggrieved contestant to contest the by-election.

He advised him to make himself available in order to learn under the feet of the old MPs, since an orientation for the MPs had already been completed.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said since the vacancy he had filled was huge, he should learn fast in order to be successful.

The Majority Leader, Dr Benjamin Kunbuor, congratulated the new MP and informed him that there were lots of good things for him to learn and urged him to avoid what he termed as the "evil forces" in the House.

With the swearing-in of the MP for Akatsi South, the number of the House now stands at 274, while Ghanaians await the conduct of the Buem by-election as a result of the death of the former Volta Regional Minister, Mr Henry Ford Kamel.

Story by Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah