The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) majority cause of parliament has released a press statement responding to the failure of the Speaker of parliament in releasing the Madina law maker to the Ghana Police Service for leading a demonstration on bad roads against the government.
The Majority asserted that, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban 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?” The statement quizzes.
According to the release, the NPP group in parliament believe firmly that a constitutionally guaranteed immunity for MPs in Ghana’s 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.
“We take a firm view that in the particular case under reference, Parliament, as the law-making arm of our democracy, has a constitutional, legal and moral duty to cooperate and collaborate with the Police to ensure that the Rule of Law prevails. Further, 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 equality of all citizens, including MPs, before the law” they said.
Below is the full statement by the majority cause in parliament:
The Majority Leadership in Parliament notes with extreme concern the refusal of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Alban S.K. Bagbin, to release the Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, Hon Francis Xavier Sosu, to the Ghana Police Service to assist with investigations into alleged offences committed during a recent demonstration in his constituency.
In a letter dated 27 October 2021, the Ghana Police Service officially identified Hon Sosu as a person of interest and, therefore, requested the Speaker to release him to assist with investigations. However, in a response dated 28″ October 2021. the Speaker said: “Proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the Ist Session of the 8th Parliament commenced on Tuesday 26″ October 2021 and having regard to the limitations of articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested”
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. At all these times, Hon Bagbin, as he then was, had been part of the leadership of the House.
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.
We take a firm view that in the particular case under reference, Parliament, as the law-making arm of our democracy, has a constitutional, legal and moral duty to cooperate and collaborate with the Police to ensure that the Rule of Law prevails. Further, Parliament must not be seen to be creating a false regime of two separate laws in Ghana – one for MPs and another for nonMPs. Instead, Parliament must ensure the equality of all citizens, including MPs, before the law. -EN
Source: Oyerepafmonline/Emmanuel Kwaku Ansah
