The Speaker of Parliament has turned down a request from the police to release Madina MP Francis Xavier Sosu for questioning.
The Madina MP will be involved in legislative proceedings, according to a letter from Parliament to the police.
“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 26th 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,” said the letter signed by the Deputy Director of Legal Services of Parliament.
“The Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament further directs that I refer you to the provisions of Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution and to inform you that on Wednesday, October 27th, 2021, he referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament allegations of 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,” the letter continued.
Mr. Sosu has been identified as a person of interest by police after leading a demonstration against bad roads in his constituency.
During the event, several demonstrators reportedly stopped highways, burned tires, and trashed property.
Police have claimed that these were illegal acts and have attempted to enlist the MP’s assistance in their investigations.
Mr. Sosu said that during the rally, several police officers attempted to arrest him.
Police were also said to have attempted to arrest Mr. Sosu when he was in church on Sunday, however, the Police administration refuted the accusations.
Despite the fact that demonstrators had blocked highways during the event, Mr. Sosu said that no arrests were warranted since he had followed proper procedure in organizing the protest.
Mr. Sosu filed a formal complaint in Parliament after the initial attempt to arrest him, charging two police commanding officials of contempt of Parliament.
The complaint against the two police officers was sent to the Privileges Committee of Parliament by the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin.
Mr. Sosu’s allegation named two officers: ACP Isaac Kojo Asante, the Greater Accra Regional Operations Commander, and ACP Eric Winful, the Adentan Divisional Commander.
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