A lawyer in private practice and lecturer at the GIMPA law faculty, John Darko, has filed his nomination forms to contest the Suame constituency parliamentary primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Saturday, 27 January 2024.

The Suame constituency is currently occupied by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, who has openly declared that he will no longer contest in the 2024 parliamentary primaries.

John Darko is said to be in a good position to win the primaries and to ultimately win the Suame seat in December 2024.

Mr Darko is an indigene of Breman, a town within the Suame constituency where he grew up. He contested in the 2016 parliamentary primaries of the NPP, and placed third. However, he was not allowed to contest in the primaries ahead of the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections, allowing the incumbent MP, Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu to go unopposed.

He holds an LL.M in Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources from the University of Houston Law Centre, Texas, where he was a recipient of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) and Rocky Mountains Minerals Law Foundation Scholarships.

He obtained his qualifying certificate in law (QCL) from Ghana School of Law, Accra-Ghana between September 2007 and October 2009, and an LLB from the University of Ghana, between September 2005 to May 2007, and BA in Political Science from September 1999 to May 2003.

John Darko, who is a partner at Darko, Keli-Delataa, and Co. has been a natural resources and environmental lawyer with 13 years’ experience cutting across commercial, advisory, academia, and consultancy settings, and delivering success on projects worth several millions of US dollars.

He also has a strong understanding of laws governing Ghana’s energy, land, and natural resources sector. He has also demonstrated exceptional leadership and integrity as a board member of 6 government and private organizations across the oil and gas, insurance, finance, and education industries, including Ghana Gas Company Limited.

The NPP opened nominations for constituencies where it has sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday, 20th December, and it is expected to close on Monday, 25th December 2023 (Christmas Day).

Mr John Darko picked up his forms on 21st December and within 24 hours completed and submitted same.