News:
Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu
November 4, 2021
The Majority Caucus in Parliament has taken a swipe at the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin for his refusal to release the Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu to the Ghana Police Service to assist with investigations into the alleged offences committed during a recent demonstration for improved road network in his constituency.
The police in a letter dated 27 October, 2021 requested the police to release the Madina MP to assist with investigations, but the Speaker in a response dated October 28, 2021 refused stating that; “proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament commenced on Tuesday 26th October 2021 and having regard to the limitations of articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic”, hence he was unable to release the said MP as requested.
This response, the majority Caucus described as troubling and a departure from how his predecessors handled such requests.
In a press statement dated November 4, 2021, they accused the Speaker of Parliament of instituting new rules that seem to undermine the Rule of Law without any prior discussions with the Leadership of the House, and asked: What exactly has changed?
They contend that the Speaker’s predecessors Rt. Hon. Joyce Bamford Addo and Edward Doe Adjaho both received those requests during their days in office, and “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. At all these times, Hon Bagbin, as he then was, had been part of the leadership of the House.”
[04/11, 13:12] Dominic: The Majority therefore argued that being parliament as a law-making arm of our democracy, has a constitutional, legal and moral duty to cooperate and collaborate with police to ensure tHat the Rule of Law prevails. Also, “Parliament must not be seen to be creating a false regime of two separate laws in Ghana – one for MPs and another for non-MPs. Instead, Parliament must ensure the quality of all citizens, including MPs, before the law.”
Ghanamps.com