Majority Leader of Parliament, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has described the unfortunate death of the Mfantseman Member of Parliament, Hon. Ekow Quansah Hayford as a big blow to the ruling party.

The MP was reportedly shot dead by alleged highway robbers on Friday dawn.

According to Peace FM correspondent in the Central Region, Ibrahim Dadzie, he was shot while returning from a campaign trip.

The robbers, according to the report, fired at the driver of his car after he refused to stop when they signaled him to. They then reportedly dragged the MP out of the car and started questioning him.

Speaking on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs said the late Hon. Ekow Quansah Hayford gave the ruling New Patriotic Party, high hopes of retaining the Mfantseman Constituency seat for a long time after recapturing it from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

“What I know is that the Mfantseman Constituency used to be in the hands of NPP’s Asamoah Boateng and since he lost the seat, it has been difficult for the NPP to win the Constituency back and it was this man who won the seat back for us.

“I remember that when he came to Parliament, I congratulated him for winning the seat back for us. He is a local politician and the people in the constituency hold him in high esteem and so it gave us the hope that we will handle the constituency for lengthy period, but sadly this has happened”, he lamented.

Eulogising the late Hon. Ekow Hayford, the Suame lawmaker described the deceased as someone who is very affable and a proper gentleman in Parliament.

“In Parliament, he is someone who is quiet; he does not talk that much in Parliament but whenever he gets up to speak in Parliament, he was always on point and so all the time, I use to encourage him to work keep up the hard in Parliament because not only should he satisfy his constituents but in Parliament, he should register strongly so that he can lead the constituency for long. He is someone who is blameless in the House and that is why I am saying that what has happened is very bad”, he paid tribute to the late MP.

He noted that time is not on the side of the ruling party since the constitution will not permit the party to commiserate with the bereaved family under normal circumstances as the party must hurriedly field a replacement.

“Our constitution states that if we are filing a nomination and in the process one of those people who are supposed to file dies, there should be 21 days period before the affected party can name a replacement. What it means now is that we have to within a very short period organize ourselves and find a replacement for the Mfantseman Constituency”.

“The sad aspect of it is that you don’t even have time to commiserate sufficiently with the family; we have to hurriedly find a replacement and it is worrying," he bemoaned.