<![CDATA[During last week’s by-elections in the UK Parliament constituency of Lewisham East, a friend sent me the results, which had the name of a Ghanaian in the running. Yes my friend thought seeing the names ‘Kissi-Debrah’ meant possible family ties between Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, and me.
Sadly Rosemond, who ran on the ticket of The Green Party has no known relation with my family yet! The Labour party’s Janet Daby won the Lewisham East by-election, which was triggered by the resignation of Heidi Alexander. This made me surf the web to find details on my ‘lost relative’ whose public profiles don’t mention a Ghanaian lineage yet, but with such a name of course she can only be from Ghana.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah became a local clean air campaigner following the death of her daughter in February 2013 from a rare and severe form of asthma. This led her to set up the Ella Roberta Family Foundation, which works to increase awareness of asthma in schools and local community groups.
[caption id="attachment_122644" align="aligncenter" width="968"] Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah and daughter Ella[/caption]
The teacher and charity campaigner from Hither Green said running to be MP in her home constituency seemed like a logical step to take after the campaigning she has done in memory of her daughter Ella.The youngster died aged nine from acute respiratory failure after suffering years of coughing fits and seizures.
Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah believes London’s dirty air exacerbated her daughter’s health problems and has spent the last few years lobbying boroughs and the Mayor of London for better research into childhood asthma through the Ella Roberta Family Foundation.
Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who is a secondary school teacher in Lewisham also champions the fight for schools that local people can be proud of. She wants more funding for young people’s mental health support, and to implement a joined up, holistic approach to the issue which helps young people and their families manage their conditions while giving them the confidence to go flourish.
The full results in Lewisham East were:
Janet Daby – Labour 11,033 (50.2%)
Lucy Salek – Liberal Democrats 5,404 (24.6%)
Ross Archer – Conservative 3,161 (14.4%)
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah – Green Party 788 (3.6%)
Mandu Reid – Women’s Equality Party 506 (2.3%)
David Kurten – UKIP 380 (1.7%)
Anne Marie Waters – For Britain Movement266 (1.2%)
Maureen Martin – Christian Peoples Alliance168
Howling Laud Hope – Monster Raving Loony Party 93
Massimo DiMambro – Democrats and Veterans Party 67
