Kwamena Bartels

Peter Kwamena Essilfie Bartels (born 27 October 1947)[1] is a Ghanaian politician and former government minister of the New Patriotic Party.

Kwamena Bartels
Member of the Ghana Parliament for Ablekuma North
In office Jan 1997 – Jan 2009
Preceded by	Adam Baako Nortey Yeboah
Succeeded by	Justice Joe Appiah
Minister of the Interior
In office 2007–2008
President	John Kufuor
Preceded by	Albert Kan Dapaah
Succeeded by	Kwame Addo-Kufuor
Minister for Information and National Orientation
In office 2006–2007
President	John Kufuor
Preceded by	Daniel Kwaku Botwe
Succeeded by	Florence Oboshie Sai-Coffie
Minister in charge of Private Sector Development and President's Special Initiative
In office 2005–2006
President	John Kufuor
Preceded by	office created
Succeeded by	ministry merged with Trade and Industry
Personal details
Born	Kwamena Bartels 27 October 1947 Agona Swedru, Ghana[1]
Nationality	Ghanaian
Spouse(s)	Married
Residence	Ghana
Occupation	Politician

Biography

After graduating from Mfantsipim School in 1968, Bartels was admitted to the University of Ghana, where he studied law. After obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1971, Bartels continued his studies at the Ghana School of Law in order to become a professional lawyer.[1]

In 1979, Bartels first contested for a seat in the Parliament of Ghana, but was defeated by a People's National Party candidate. In 1992, Bartels again stood for election in Agona West constituency, but withdrew after his party boycotted the 1992 election due to alleged electoral fraud. In 1996, Bartels was elected MP for the Ablekuma North constituency.[1] He was the Minister for Works and Housing from 2001 -2004. He subsequently became Minister in charge of Private Sector and PSI (2005-2006), Minister of Information & National Orientation (2006-2007), and Minister of the Interior (2007-2008).[2]

Bartels was fired from the cabinet by President John Kufuor in 2008, allegedly due to his involvement in the missing of forty-two parcels of cocaine which were confiscated by the police, Bartels denied his involvement in that. A lot of senior NPP members said he was sacked because of his support for his close friend the then Candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, they claim the then president Kufour wanted Bartels to use his influence in the Central Region to garner votes for Alan Kyeremanteng. Bartels was said to be rooting for Akufo Addo in the Central Region.[3] It is also alleged that Bartels channeled considerable amounts of a US-sponsored government fund meant for the Ghanaian private sector to companies owned by his daughters and sons-in-law.[4]

Family

Bartels is a member of the Euro-African Bartels family, whose ancestor Cornelius Ludewich Bartels was Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast between 1798 and 1804, and whose son Carel Hendrik Bartels was the most important mulatto trader on the Gold Coast in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.[5]

Politics

Bartels is a member of the New Patriotic Party. He was first elected as a member of parliament for the Ablekuma North Constituency, making him a member of the 2nd parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana on 7 January 1997 after emerging winner at the 1996 Ghanaian General Elections. He was then reelected as the member of parliament for the Ablekuma North constituency in the Greater Accra region in the 3rd parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana.

Elections

Bartels was elected as the member of parliament for the Ablekuma North constituency in the 1996 Ghanaian general elections with a majority votes of 35,747 representing 47.20% of the total valid votes. He retained his seat as a member of parliament during the 2000 Ghanaian general elections.[6] He was elected on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party.[6] His constituency was a part of the 16 parliamentary seats out of 22 seats won by the New Patriotic Party in that election for the Greater Accra Region.[7] [8][9]The New Patriotic Party won a majority total of 100 parliamentary seats out of 200 seats in the 3^rd parliament of the 4^th republic of Ghana.[7] He was elected with 34,508 votes out of 50,012 total valid votes cast. This was equivalent to 69.2% of the total valid votes cast.[10][11] He was elected over Albert Okpoti Botchway of the National Democratic Congress, Doreen Naadjah Sackey of the Convention People's Party, Isaac Kwakye Gyasi of the National Reform Party and Abdul-Jalilu Awudu of the People's National Convention. These obtained 14,236, 1,092, 0votes and 0 votes respectively out of the total valid votes cast. These were equivalent to 28.6%, 2.2%, 0% and 0% respectively of total valid votes cast.[10][11]

References

1. "Kwamina Bartels Profile". GhanaWeb. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
2. "People Record: Kwamena Bartels". AfDevInfo. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
3. "Enquirer: Why Bartels Was Fired". GhanaWeb. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
4. "Kwamena Bartels' Turn Soon". GhanaWeb. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
5. "Bartels, Carel Hendrik". GoldCoastDataBase. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
6. Electoral Commission of Ghana Parliamentary Result-Election 2000. Ghana: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. 2007. p. 16.
7. "Statistics of Presidential and Parliamentary Election Results". Fact Check Ghana. 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
8. http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2123. Missing or empty |title= (help)
9. FM, Peace. "Ghana Election 2000 Results - Brong Ahafo Region". Ghana Elections - Peace FM. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
10. Electoral Commission of Ghana -Parliamentary Result-Election 2000. Ghana: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. 2007. p. 30.
11. FM, Peace. "Ghana Election 2000 Results - Ablekuma North Constituency". Ghana Elections - Peace FM. Retrieved 2020-09-03.