Samuel Atta Akyea

Samuel Atta Akyea, MP (born 20 August 1962)^[1] is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. He is the current Member of Parliament of Akim Abuakwa South constituency.^[2] He is the Minister for Works and Housing in Ghana. He is a member of the New Patriotic Party of Ghana. He is only the second person apart from Nana Akuffo-Addo to have been elected as MP of the Akyim Abuakwa South constituency in the 4th republic.

Early life and education

He was born in Kyebi in the Eastern Region of Ghana.^[2] He attended the University of Ghana, Legon and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and Philosophy in 1989.^[2] He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law and obtained his practising license in 1993.^[2][3]

Working life

After graudating from law school he was employed as a state attorney at the Attorney General’s Department.^[2] He later joined the private law firm, Akufo-Addo Prempeh & Co in Accra. In 1995 he joined another private law firm, Zoe Akyea & Co., where was made a partner and worked there for fourteen years. He left private legal practice to contest the Abuakwa South constituency election in 2009.^[2]

Political life

Atta Akyea entered politics in 2008 when he was elected the parliamentarian for the Abuakwa South constituency.^[4] He competed against two other aspirants, namely, Sammy Osei of the National Democratic Congress and Nana Addo Aikins, an Independent candidate.^[5] He won the election by obtaining 22,681 votes out of the 30,109 which represented 75.3% of valid votes cast.^[2] He succeeded Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who stepped down as MP in order to concentrate on his presidential amibitions.^[6] Akuffo-Addo up to that point had been the only person to have represented the constituency in the 4th Republic parliament. He went on to retain his seat in the two subsequent elections held in 2012^[7] and 2016. In parliament, he has served on various committees including the Finance, Public Accounts Judiciary and Appointments Committees of Parliament.^[2] In 2016 Atta Akyea scored a total of 77.6% in the preceding Parliament with an attendance score of 67.8% and a contribution score of 84.2% placing him at 48th out of 275 Member of Parliament.^[8]

Galamsey fight

Atta Akyea was accused of not doing enough to stop the use of the Birim River for Galamsey activities.^[9] The Birim river which passes through his constituency is a major river body in Ghana and supplies a substantial amount of the constituency's water requirement. Atta Akyea opined that the galamsey fight was not a job for one constituency but a national problem requiring national policy backed by military support.^[10][11]

Ministerial appointment

In January 2016, President Akuffo-Addo named him as part of his first batch of minister designates.^[12][13] Prior to his vetting by the appointments committee of Parliament, it emerged that he had made almost no input relevant to the ministry he had been nominated to head in addition he had not been involved in any relevant interaction with the Works and Housing committee.^[8] It was however, a credit to him that his track record for building strong institutions and enforcement of constitutional provisions would bode well for him in the sector.^[8] During his vetting by the appointments committee on 31 January 2017^[14][15], he expressed his vision for the ministry he had been appointed to and promised to complete all uncompleted housing projects started by the John Dramani Mahama administration.^[16] He told the committee that he would prioritise the construction of houses for members of the judiciary.^[17] He was sworn in along with eleven other ministers by President Akuffo-Addo on 8 February, 2017 at the Jubilee House in Accra.^[18][19]

Personal life

He is married with 3 children and is a Christian. He is a member of the International Central Gospel Church.^[4]

References