The Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has been elected by the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) as the association’s acting Vice-Chairperson.

The election of the leader of government business in Parliament, who represented CPA from the African region, followed a poll between him and his sole contender, Mr Garry Brownlee from the CPA New Zealand branch.

The polls, which was conducted via email in July 2021, saw Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, polling 19 votes to beat Mr Brownlee who garnered 10 votes.

The elevation paves the way for Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu to join the upcoming Executive Committee meeting of the CPA from September 27 to 30, 2021.

Appreciation

Communicating the outcome of the polls in a letter dated August 6, 2021, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Mr Stephen Twigg, thanked all members of the association who emailed and cast their votes during the election.

“The voting of the CPA Acting Vice-Chairperson was undertaken in accordance with Article 21(6) of the Constitution, which allows for an election of Acting Vice-Chairperson in the absence of a formal meeting, an election to determine the successful candidate with a simple majority vote will take place by an email ballot of the Executive Committee Members.

“The votes for the two candidates were counted and the results are as follows: Candidate A – Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu (Ghana) – 16 votes and Candidate B – Hon. Gerry Brownlee (New Zealand) – 6 votes,” he said.

Delight

He added “As such, I am delighted to confirm that Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu from the CPA Africa Region, has been voted by the Executive Committee to be the CPA Acting Vice-Chairperson.

“We look forward to welcoming Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu at the upcoming Executive Committee Meeting, taking place 27 – 30 September 2021,” Mr Brownlee said.