Dr Abdul-Jalilu Ateku, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, has said that the police acted unprofessionally in their attempt to arrest the MP for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu.
There is a standoff between the police and Parliament as the Ghana Police Service pursues Sosu to assist in investigations over “unlawful road blockade and destruction of public property” during a demonstration in his constituency.
Speaking on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (5 November), Dr Ateku said Parliament must come out with laid-down procedures to deal with arresting MPs who fall foul of the law.
“I think that the police acted unprofessionally and that is the reason why we are where we are … I say this because they acted without recourse to the existing laws that we have, talking about [Articles 117 and 118] of the 1992 constitution and the practice over the years as far as either serving or arresting MPs [is concerned],” he told the sit-in host of The Asaase Breakfast Show Beatrice Adu.
“I think that if the police had followed this particular due process, as has been in the past, by maybe notifying the Speaker or writing to the Speaker that this particular MP has some issues to answer, I believe that if the police had gone through this process … we wouldn’t have been where we are today,” Dr Ateku said.
Sosu to court 8 November
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has officially filed charges against Sosu.
“The police have obtained a criminal summons and [this] has been duly served for him [Sosu] to appear in court on 8 November,” the director general of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori, told the media on Wednesday (3 November).
He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmaker has been charged with “obstructing a public highway and causing damage to public property”.
The police are after the legislator over he allegedly took part in a protest in his constituency which led to an “unlawful road blockade and destruction of public property”.
The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Ghana Police Service wrote to the Speaker on Wednesday (27 October 2021) requesting that he release the MP.
However, a response issued through the deputy director of legal services, Nana Tawiah Okyir said: “I am directed by the Rt Hon Speaker to inform you that proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st 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 in your letter.”
Matter for privileges committee
The Speaker said he had already referred the case to the privileges committee of Parliament to probe the “breach of parliamentary privilege and contempt by ACP Isaac Kojo Asante and ACP Eric Winful of the Accra Regional Police Command and the Adenta Divisional Command respectively”.
In a statement on Sunday (31 October), the police said: “The MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu, was invited on the day of the protest to assist the police for his alleged involvement in the unlawful blockade of a road and the destruction of public property but he declined the invitation.
“He declined further invitations, citing parliamentary privilege.
“Three other persons have been interrogated on this matter and we shall continue to use every legal means to interrogate all other suspects including the Honourable MP for Madina,” the statement said.
Denial of arrest
The police also denied going to the MP’s church to effect his arrest on Sunday.
“Stories circulating that some police personnel had been dispatched to arrest the MP at a church today Sunday (31 October 2021) are untrue,” said the 31 October statement, signed by ACP Kwesi Ofori on behalf of the Police Service.
“Any plain-clothed police personnel found on the premises of the church may have been there for intelligence purposes and not to effect an arrest.”
Below is the full statement:
Fred Dzakpata
Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online
99.5 in Accra, 90.7 in Ho, 98.5 in Kumasi, 99.7 in Tamale, 89.5 in Tarkwa, and 106.9 in Walewale
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
#AsaaseRadio
#TheVoiceofOurLand
