The Member of Parliament (MP) for Afigya Kwabre North, Collins Adomako-Mensah, has given a narrative of how the members of the Majority Caucus discovered the collapse and death of the late Kumawu MP Philip Atta Basoah.
According to him, the late MP was present in parliament the day before he passed away adding that they had breakfast together
Speaking on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana on March 30, 2023, Adomako-Mensah explained that the late MP lived alone because his wife had travelled and that on the day of his death, his driver was the first person that discovered that he had collapsed in his room.
He stated that the majority intended to get the full house to vote on the president's ministerial approval, but they couldn't reach him after multiple calls, so they had to call his driver before he revealed the development to them.
“I was in the House on Friday, and I can tell you on authority that he collapsed in his house, his room on Friday morning. In fact, his driver has to force his door open, it was because we were all calling to find out where he was, you know, because we wanted to get our numbers before the voting will start.
“We tried to call him and he was not picking up, but he was with us on Thursday, in fact, we had breakfast with him on Thursday morning before our caucus meeting.
“At 10 am, we were all in the chamber and everybody started calling and he was not picking up, that was when one of our colleagues got in contact with his driver and asked, what is happening, where is your boss? He replied that ‘he has not called me’, so he was going to the house to check up on him, and when he went, he opened the door and realized that apparently, he had collapsed.”
He added “he lives alone the wife had travelled outside so he was there alone, I’m sure Daily Guide quoted what the Speaker said, and I’m sure the Speaker got the information wrong because he did not come to the chamber at all on Friday.
“And if you will realize at a point in time Afenyo-Markin was trying to do… he was buying time, because, at the time our thought was that he could be revived, we thought he had just collapsed briefly.
“We wanted to know exactly what was happening, we thought it was something that we could take him to the hospital and get him strong to come to the chamber, so, when the Speaker suspended the house for some time, that was the time some of the few colleagues rushed to LEDMA with the motorcade and ambulance.
“So, the report they brought back was very clear to us that it was not possible that he can participate. So, they then moved him straight to Korle Bu, the ICU, and is unfortunate that he could not survive."
Philip Atta Basoah died at the age of 53.
The deceased MP was one of the three absentee MPs last Friday during a critical vote to confirm ministerial appointees of President Akufo-Addo.
The Late MP for Kumawu Philip Atta Basoah
