Amma Asentewaa Asante (born 14 May 1972) is a Dutch politician. She was a member of the municipal council of Amsterdam from 1998 to 2006 and a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

of the Netherlands for the Labour Party from 2016 to 2017.

Early life

Amma Asentewaa Asante was born on 14 May 1972 in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

.A.A. (Amma) Asante
(in Dutch), ''Parlement & Politiek''. Retrieved 28 March 2017. Her father was initially an

illegal immigrant Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

in the Netherlands, but he became a legal resident by a general pardon in 1975.Marcel Wiegman,
Oud-raadslid Amma Asante gaat de Tweede Kamer in
(in Dutch), ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

'', 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017. For

family reunification Family reunification is a recognized reason for immigration in many countries because of the presence of one or more family members in a certain country, therefore, enables the rest of the divided family or only specific members of the family to e ...

, Asante and her mother moved to the Netherlands in 1978. Her father was a factory worker and her mother a chambermaid.Amma Asante
(in Dutch), Labour Party. Retrieved 4 February 2017. Asante studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

Politics

Asante is a member of the Labour Party (PvdA). She was member of the municipal council of Amsterdam from May 1998 until March 2006. Asante was number 50 on the candidate list of the Labour Party for the

2012 Dutch general election Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 12 September 2012 after Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on 23 April. The 150 seats of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands were ...

. She received 4,549 preferential votes, but was initially not elected. She was number 36 on the candidate list of the Labour Party for the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

. She received 574 preferential votes, but was not elected. Asante became a member of the

on 7 September 2016, when she replaced

Tanja Jadnanansing Tanja Malti Jadnanansing (born 26 April 1967) is a Dutch politician and former television presenter and communication employee. As a member of the Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid), she was an MP from 17 June 2010 to 7 September 2016. She was ...

. Here she is the party spokesperson for

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

. She was number 36 on the candidate list of the Labour Party for the Dutch general election on 15 March 2017. The Labour Party won nine seats in the election, so Asante left the House of Representatives on 23 March 2017.She was number 47 on the candidate list of the Labour Party for the Dutch general election on 17 March 2021.

Personal life

Asante is married and has two daughters.Addy de Jong,
Asante: Christendom en PvdA liggen dicht bij elkaar
(in Dutch), ''

Reformatorisch Dagblad The ''Reformatorisch Dagblad'' (; " Reformed Daily") is a Dutch Protestant newspaper with a circulation of around 60,000, headquartered in Apeldoorn. The conservative newspaper was founded in 1971 and is associated with the Reformed Political Part ...

'', 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2017. She lives in

Badhoevedorp Badhoevedorp is a town in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It lies next to the Ringvaart around Haarlemmermeer, the canal around the former Lake Haarlem, at the side of the polder bordering Amsterda ...

. Asante is a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

and attends the Triumphant Faith Chapel in Badhoevedorp, where her husband is a pastor.Gerard Beverdam,
Twee nieuwe Kamerleden, twee keer de eed
(in Dutch), ''

Nederlands Dagblad ''Nederlands Dagblad'' (; "Dutch Daily") is a Dutch daily newspaper, available nationwide, with a daily circulation of 23,800 issues (in 2020). History The paper was founded in 1944 as a semi- resistance paper during World War II called ''Refor ...

'', 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017. In 2016, when she was asked why she was not member of a confessional political party, Asante said: "

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

are very similar. I feel great in the Labour Party, I feel at home there. My identity is not only established by my religion."

References

External links

*
Amma Asante
official website *
Amma Asante
at the Labour Party website {{DEFAULTSORT:Asante, Amma 1972 births 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch women politicians Ghanaian emigrants to the Netherlands Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Living people Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Amsterdam People from Kumasi University of Amsterdam alumni Dutch Protestants