Senator Danso Tupac Ashanti, LoH

Danso Tupac Ashanti is descended from a military family having its roots in the West African Ashante nation. He has had a distinguished career in the IEN ending up as the First Space Lord.

Highlights of his career included commanding the Imperial Guard Squadron, being enrolled in the Legion of Honour for a 'reactor leak', and being the victorious fleet commander in a battle against the Venerian Navy. All in the space of two years.

As First Space Lord he took the option of becoming a probationary member of the Senate being sponsored personally by the First Citizen. He was elected as the member for Western Africa in the 3191 elections.

Since his election he has sat on the Defence Select Committee and on the Security and Intelligence Board. He sponsored a means tested emigration bill that would have significantly expanded colonisation from Earth had it not been vetoed by the Lee Zhang government.

Senator Danso Tupac Ashanti comes from a long line of distinguished naval officers and was himself First Lord of the Admiralty before becoming a full member of the Senate in 3186.

He is a strong supporter of the Armed Forces and a proponent of further colonial expansion and increases in military spending. Usually he votes with the Imperialist Party although he is not formally a member of any faction. If the Admiralty could be affected by anything he will lead opinion for a group of former naval officers in the Senate, although they do not all follow his lead on all occasions. Above all he is loyal to the wishes of the First Citizen and has sat on several Imperium Committees looking at resourcing for the Armed Forces, Security and Foreign Affairs on behalf of the First Citizen.

He recently sponsored a private bill which was defeated because it did not receive Government support. The bill would have provided for increased support for managed emigration. This would have involved targeted systems having their infrastructure invested in and people from Earth & Q0 systems being given free transport. There would be conditions on the subsidised travel that would ensure service on the colony; genetic upgrades for offspring; colony membership of the Solar Republic; no return within 10 years. Some of the conditions could be relaxed for those contributing to their own passage or bringing kit for use on arrival. Funding for this scheme would have come from the external aid budget.

Other known positions from speeches to the Senate include:

• increased expenditure on the IEN. Most likely on DDI and CVI as his command background has given him a view that these types are most useful. He will listen to what current Admirals want, especially his daughter.
• a rebalancing of the IAO fleet. He believes that it has too much space combat power to the detriment of f their ability to intervene within systems. He believes that their capital ships should be replaced with ALSI, AMI and EVI. Their GF/IS component should also increase. Overall this would have the same budget level.
• ToOL has served its purpose but is becoming outdated. The regular summits are a very good thing and continued multi-laterals essential to easing potential inter-polity misunderstandings. However these should be divorced from the framework of a specific treaty like ToOL.
• 'Human League'. There is absolutely no need whatsoever for this. The polities are capable of talking without another over blown bureaucracy being created.
• Suggestions of re-integration (of any whole polity) should not be entertained. However if any system wanted, by majority of its residents, to join (or re-join in some cases) the Solar Republic then we should consider it seriously with a presumption of acceptance.

He was born in 3120 and educated at the Havana Naval Academy before joining the IEN as an officer candidate in 3138. He served initially as a pacifier pilot in the Imperial Guard Squadron before transferring as to Quadrant 8 as a Lieutenant in 3143. After a post on board the ESS Agamemnon he transferred to become ADC to Admiral Tendashi in command of the IEN in Q8. He distinguished himself during the Braveheart crisis and was promoted to Commander in command of a DDI. A number of command and staff appointments followed as well as a spell at the High Command and Staff College as an Instructor.

He was promoted to Captain in 3155 and commanded the CVI ESS King from 3156 to 3159. He then served as a Squadron Commander at the Naval Academy and commanded the Pacifier Wing at the Academy.

By 3165 he had reached the rank of Rear Admiral and was appointed to command of the Imperial Guard Squadron. He won membership of the Legion of Honour in a reactor leak off Old Mars late in 3168. His swift action during the incident ensured that the First Citizen, who was present on a tour of the reactor, was saved from harm. Rear Admiral Ashanti was critically injured by the leak and spent two octants recovering in hospital. He was then promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed as the Deputy Commander of the 1st Battle Fleet in Q1.

He was Quadrant Vice Admiral in 3170 in Quadrant 1 when he commanded the fleet action against the RNVN at the battle of Safeway Station. His success was recognised by a Knighthood and promotion to become Second Lord of the Admiralty, said to be a result of his close proximity to the First Citizen. This was followed by further promotion to First Lord of the Admiralty and command of the IEN between 3180 to 3186 when he entered the Senate.

There is a long record of distinguished service in his maternal line (where his family traces its lineage according to West African customs). Excluding those killed in service the majority of his line have been commissioned officers, since 3100 none have retired below the rank of Captain (or marine Lt Col in three cases). There have been six admirals in the last four generations (not including the Senator or his daughter).

In his immediate family the Senator had two brothers (one older and one younger) and two sisters (both older). His elder brother was killed in action while serving as a marine Lt in Q7 at the Battle of Glace in 3132 against the GFA. His younger brother retired as a Captain in 3195 and was recalled to service in 3196 when the state of emergency was declared. He is currently serving as a staff officer in the Admiralty.

His eldest sister was a pacifier pilot and served in the IEN for 20 years before transferring to the IAO. His younger sister was killed in action as a marine Lt Col in Q6 aboard the ESS Bolivar.

He is married and has four children. His eldest, a daughter, is a Rear Admiral serving in Quadrant 4. The second child, a son, is a Marine Major on special duties. The third child, a daughter, is pacifier pilot currently serving in the Imperial Guard Squadron as a flight commander. The youngest, another daughter, is currently on maternity leave from her post as an IS Troop Commander in the IAO's 1st ISB.