THE LUCKY POLITICIAN - JOE OSEI-OWUSU, FIRST DEPUTY SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT
Osei-Owusu,
known in political circles as Joe Wise, was a polling station chairman for the
NPP at Bekwai, became central ward chairman and later constituency chairman for
the party at Bekwai. He had earlier served as an assembly member in the area.
After an
illustrious six and half years as the Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle
Licencing Authority (DVLA) in the Kufuor administration, Mr Osei-Owusu took a
critical decision - he resigned and entered politics 'big time'.
He first
contested the primary of the NPP at Bekwai in 2007 but lost by one vote to the
then incumbent MP for the area, Mr Ignatius Kofi Poku Edusei.
He then
decided to contest as an independent candidate in the same constituency in the
2008 Parliamentary election when he won the election. against Mr Edusei, who
was also the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and
Environment at the time.
Mr
Osei-Owusu told this writer that it was the chiefs and people in the area who
encouraged him to go independent following the challenge was thrown to him by
the sitting MP that he was unbeatable in the constituency.
His other
advantage was that he was a constituency executive member of the NPP for many
years which had given him a formidable support base.
And when
Mr Osei-Owusu went to Parliament in 2009, he lent his support to the Minority
in Parliament NPP.
In fact,
Mr Osei-Owusu was outspoken in Parliament as he spoke forcefully against
government policies and transactional agreements.
When Mr
Osei-Owusu took another critical decision to contest the NPP primary for the
2012 election in the same constituency, the people stood by him to win to
continue to represent them in Parliament.
While in
Parliament, Mr Osei-Owusu served on various committees including the
Appointments Committee, the Road and Transport Committee, and the
Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of which he was the
Ranking Member.
Having
served as a legislator for three consecutive terms and contributed to the
victory of the NPP in the 2016 election, Mr Osei-Owusu believed that the time
was ripe for him to take up a ministerial appointment.
But that
was not to be as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the party bigwigs
had another plan for him; to take the chair of the First Deputy Speaker of the
Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic.
Challenging
start
But Mr
Osei-Owusu's term started with an allegation of a bribery scandal involving him
as the Chairman of the Appointments Committee of Parliament (ACP), some members
of the committee and the then Minister-designate for Energy, Mr Boakye-Agyarko.
The
Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mr Mahama Ayariga, had alleged
that Mr Osei-Owusu had taken money from Mr Agayarko and given same to the
Minority Chief Whip and the Deputy Ranking member on the ACP, Alhaji Muntaka
Mohammed-Mubarak to be given to Minority me
A
committee set up to probe the allegation concluded that Mr Boakye-Agyarko had
not given any money to Mr Osei-Owusu to be given to Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak for
the purpose of bribing members of the ACP.
According
to him the bribery allegation had taught him an important lesson in his life
and had changed the way he related to people.
Leadership philosophy
Mr
Osei-Owusu said as a First Deputy Speaker, he believed in objectivity and
fairness as a leader and that the challenge he faced when he was made the First
Deputy Speaker "was to suddenly become neutral."
He said
being neutral was difficult but indicated that "being fair comes to me
naturally", and added that "I want to be remembered as a fair First
Deputy Speaker."
Mr
Osei-Owusu said his character was guided by humility, excellence and focus.
His
advice for Ghana was to invest in technology for the country to industrialise
and add value to the country's resources to be competitive on the global stage.
He felt
that Parliament was too dependent on the Executive as it could not pass any law
without the Executive and wanted a reverse of that.
Background
Mr Osei-Owusu
was born at Bekwai in the Ashanti Region on January 22, 1962. He obtained a
combined degree in law and classics from the Universit of Ghana, Legon in 1987.
From
Legon, he continued at the Ghana Law School after which he was called to the
Bar in 1990.
Mr Joe
Wise was engaged in private legal practice for 13 years before entering public
service as the Chief Executive of the DVLA.
He also
obtained an Executive Master's degree in Governance and Leadership in 2007
while still at the DVLA.
Mr
Osei-Owusu has been married to Sylvia for 24 years.
They have
three children, one girl and two boys and an adopted child. Mr Osei-Owusu likes
football since it was his game in his school days.
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