Stop shielding Madina MP – NPP MPs to Alban Bagbin
The Speaker of Parliament has been called on by the Majority Caucus to stop shielding Francis-Xavier Sosu from assisting the Police with a probe regarding occurrences that happened in his constituency during a protest.
Alban Bagbin’s posture on the issue is seen by the Majority as troubling and a departure from previous cases where speakers have collaborated with the Police for sitting legislators to be interrogated.
“The Majority Leadership views the foregoing response by Speaker Bagbin as a troubling departure from how his predecessors handled such requests. To avoid doubt, when both Rt. Hons. Joyce Bamford Addo and Edward Doe Adjaho received those requests during their days in office, they responded by inviting the relevant MPs, held discussions with them, and then asked them to report to the requesting Police or investigative authorities.
“Again, during his tenure as Speaker, Rt Hon Professor Mike Oquaye modified the arrangement, including making the Speaker’s Conference Room available to the Police to meet with MPs they were interested in and to conduct initial investigations. He did this to protect the dignity of MPs while at the same time ensuring that MPs are not put above the law.
“Now the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Rt. Hon Bagbin, appears to be instituting new rules that seem to undermine the Rule of Law without any prior discussions with the Leadership of the House. We ask: What exactly has changed? As a group, the Majority believes firmly that constitutionally guaranteed immunity for MPs in our democracy must not only be protected always but jealously guarded as well. However, never should we, as a Parliament, make the mistake of allowing immunity to be construed to mean impunity.”
The Police have consequently filed charges against Madina Legislator Francis-Xavier Sosu over the incident of alleged road blockages in his constituency and destruction of property during a protest to demand that their roads be fixed.
But the lawmaker is yet to honour the invitation after unsuccessful attempts to arrest him.
The Police have stated their resolve to see to the logical conclusion of the matter saying it “…still stands by its position on the matter and the MP is expected to appear in court on November 8 over the charges we have filed against him. We maintain that we have behaved in a manner consistent with democratic principles and in line with democracy such as ours,” the Director of Public Affairs for the Police ACP Kwasi Ofori said.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
