The man Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North Constituency in the Eastern Region, Mr Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu, was stabbed to death Tuesday.
The slain legislator, who suffered multiple wounds in the early hours of yesterday when unknown assailants stormed his residence at Shiashie near East Legon in Accra, was the grandson of the late J.B Danquah, a Ghanaian statesman, pan-Africanist, scholar and historian, who played a significant role in pre- and post-colonial Ghana.
JB Danquah-Adu, a chartered accountant, would have been 51 in July this year. Popularly known as JB, he was born on July 2,1965 and was named after Dr JB Danquah, the doyen of Ghanaian politics and one of the leaders of Ghana's independence movement who formed the United Gold Coast Convention in 1947.
Comeback
He won the Abuakwa North Constituency parliamentary seat in 2004 and served as Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs in the John Agyekum Kufuor administration.
In December 2012, he staged a comeback after being absent for four years (2008- 2012) and defeated the National Democratic Congress’ Mr Victor Smith to represent the constituency as MP from January 7, 2013.
In Parliament, he was part of a 19-member Special Budget Committee chaired by the majority leader. The committee considers the budget of Parliament and other constitutionally independent bodies, including Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), National Media Commission (NMC), the Electoral Commission (EC), and National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE).
He was also part of the Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee in Parliament.
He won the recent NPP primaries to contest the forthcoming November elections on the ticket of the party.
Prior to becoming an MP, he was the Executive Director, Automotive Springs (Ghana) Limited, Accra.
The late Danquah was affable and the toast of persons of all age groups in his constituency, very intelligent and hard-working.
First attack
This was not the first time Mr Danquah-Adu had been attacked by unknown assailants. In August 26, 2010, his 24-year-old girlfriend conspired with two men to rob the MP at the lady’s East Legon apartment.
According to the police, on the morning of August 26, the girlfriend called JB, her estranged boyfriend, to meet her at Protea Hotel.
When they met, she asked for financial help from him and they agreed to meet later at her house.
When JB got to her house, he met the girlfriend outside and she took him into the house. They then proceeded to her bedroom where she undressed him.
State prosecutors said after this, the two assailants came out of the bathroom where they were hiding and started taking photographs.
They also attacked JB with a knife and took away his pair of trousers which contained GH¢1000.
The slain legislator left behind a wife, Ivy Heward Mills, and two children.
Danquah’s death: We’re shocked – NPP
The NPP has meanwhile described the “bloody murder” of its Member of Parliament for Abuakwa North as “shocking.”
The acting national chairman of the NPP, Mr Freddie Blay, said the party “is in a state of shock.”
Mr Blay said the death “is an unfortunate situation,” and described Danquah-Adu as a “hard-working young man and active and all of a sudden no more.”
He said the age-old debate of providing security for legislators in Ghana must be revived.
“It’s long overdue,” Blay told the media at the residence of the murdered lawmaker. “The murder in his house doesn’t appear to be robbery. This is bloody murder,” he further said.
JB bore no grudge - Sister
The sister of the murdered MP has also stated that his brother had no axe to grind with anyone for which reason any individual or group of persons would want to have him eliminated.
Abena Akyeampomaa said she was still in grief and shock following the death of her brother.