Owuraku Amofah

Emmanuel Owuraku Amofah (born February 8, 1956; often referred to as simply Owuraku Amofah, surname sometimes written as Amofa) is a Ghanaian politician and lawyer from Kibi who served as a member of the Parliament of Ghana for Abuakwa Central constituency from 1992 to 1996. He is a former deputy communication minister and deputy tourism minister. In 1992, he founded the Every Ghanaian Living Everywhere (EGLE) party. As a lawyer, he has worked in New York City as the CEO of Parking Ticket Busters, a ticket-broker business, as an attorney at Amofah Law Firm and as a one-time administrative law judge at the city's Parking Violations Bureau.[1] In 2017, Amofah was reported to have illegally altered documents in his various parking ticket cases by utilising knowledge from his former judge position, cheating the city out of over $100,000 in fines.[2]

Owuraku Amofah
Member of Parliament
for Abuakwa Central
In office
1992–1996
PresidentJerry Rawlings
Personal details
Born
Emmanuel Owuraku Amofah

(1956-02-08) February 8, 1956
Kibi, Ghana
Political partyNDC (2002–2008, since 2014)
Other political
affiliations		EGLE (until 2000)
NPP (2008–2014)
ChildrenSeveral, including Randy and Desmond Amofah (sons; both deceased)

Politics

Amofah studied law in America and was involved in Ghana's politics, serving as a Deputy of Tourism under President Jerry Rawlings. In 2000, he had an argument with Rawlings over failing to choosing Obed Asamoah as a running mate. Asamoah was rumored to have taken money from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) so that Amofah could have a position in the government. During the confrontation, Amofah allegedly slammed the door on Rawlings' fingers, injuring him. As a result, Amofah went into a self-imposed exile in the US, where he became a Magistrate Judge in Staten Island, New York.[3] His membership in EGLE lapsed while he was out of the country shortly after. Amofah would later join the NDC in 2002 before leaving the party in 2008.

In 2013, he returned to Ghana as a member of the New Patriotic Party, where he supported his uncle Nana Akufo-Addo for a position in the government. However, when Akufo-Addo was running for president, he later changed his stance and claimed that Akufo-Addo would "be the worst President for Ghana."[4] Amofah rejoined the NDC in 2014.

Children

Amofah is the father of multiple children, including two sons who are deceased, Randy and Desmond Amofah. Desmond was an American YouTube personality and online streamer who was better known by his online alias Etika.[5] On June 20, 2019, Desmond was reported missing by the New York City Police Department, and his body was found in the East River on the evening of June 24.[6] After identification of his body, he was publicly pronounced dead on the morning of June 25.[7][8] On June 26, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner determined that the cause of Desmond's death was drowning, and the manner was suicide.[9][10][11] Randy Amofah died on October 31, 2010[12] from an asthma attack while driving through a sandstorm in Ghana, according to Desmond's ex-girlfriend Christine Cardona, better known by her online alias Alice Pika.

References
  1. Starrfmonline.com (June 8, 2016). "I don't regret supporting Nana Addo – Owuraku Amofa". GhanaWeb. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  2. Jaeger, Max (December 19, 2017). "Ex-judge used knowledge of ticket system to cheat city out of $100K in fines". New York Post. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  3. Ruha, Genevieve (September 16, 2013). "Owuraku Amofa". GhanaNation.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  4. peacefmonline.com (November 22, 2016). "Akufo-Addo destroyed his family's good work - Owuraku Amofa". ghanaweb.com. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  5. "Former Dept minister's son, Desmond Amofah, found dead in Manhattan". Graphic Online. June 26, 2019.
  6. "Etika: Body found in search is missing YouTuber". BBC News Online. BBC Online. BBC. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  7. "Missing YouTube star 'Etika' found dead". WNYW. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  8. NYPD News [@NYPDNews] (June 25, 2019). "We regret to inform that Desmond Amofah aka Etika has been found deceased" (Tweet). Retrieved June 26, 2019 – via Twitter.
  9. Alanne Orjoux. "YouTuber Etika died by suicide, medical examiner says". CNN. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  10. "Etika: Body found in search is missing YouTuber". BBC News. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  11. Jacobo, Julia (June 26, 2019). "YouTube gaming personality Desmond 'Etika' Amofah's died by suicide, officials say". ABC News. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  12. Bicks, Emily (June 25, 2019). "Etika's Older Brother Randy Amofah Died in 2010". Heavy.com. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
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