Peter Lanchene Toobu, Member of Parliament for Wa West, has slammed the police for attempting to arrest Madina Lawmaker Francis-Xavier Sosu.
He referred to the Police action as a futile exercise.
In an interview, he stated, “I think this whole show is some exercise in futility. The MP is not going to appear before court until he is released by the Speaker of Parliament. The Speaker is saying as we speak, we are very tight in Parliament and he cannot release the MP and there is a procedure to arrest an MP, there is a procedure to serve court proceedings on an MP and the Police know that.”
“As for charging him, the thing that he has contributed to causing damage to public property or he has caused damage to public property, if they are trying to show power, Parliament has the authority. But it is not about showing authority, it is about complementing each other’s effort and checking and balancing each other’s roles to ensure that Ghana develops.”
Meanwhile, Mr Kofi Bentil, a private legal practitioner, has stated that under Ghanaian law, the police have the authority to arrest anyone they suspect of breaking the law.
He urged all Ghanaians, regardless of social status, to submit to the country’s laws and law enforcement officers.
In an interview regarding the attempted arrest of Sosu following his alleged involvement in a violent protest in his constituency, Mr Bentil, who is also the Vice President of Imani Africa, stated, “To the extent that the Police feel the need to invite any member of this society to question them about the probable cause that a crime has been committed or something wrong has been done, that person ought to respond to the Police positively, and that person ought to respond positively to the Police. If the police do anything untoward we will all come and defend that person .”
“It is just not right for any person to assume any kind of immunity that effectively poses them above the law.
In this particular matter, we think that at this point the Police have a right to effect an arrest and to effect an investigation. If they think that they have to proceed they will go ahead and proceed, if anybody has a problem we will call back that person to court to the court and vindicate themselves.”
The police were seeking to apprehend Sosu for allegedly participating in violent protests in his constituency.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP led some of his constituents in a protest against the poor state of the roads in his district.
The peaceful demonstration began around 6:00 a.m. in Danfa but later saw demonstrators burning tires and erecting roadblocks on the Ayi Mensah-Danfa Road.
Sosu, on the other hand, has denied the allegations, saying, “That any allegation of the Police about my involvement in unlawful road blockade and destruction of public property is false and an afterthought carefully manufactured by the police to divert the attention of the people of Ghana from the key issues of bad roads raised by our protest and demonstration.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, also denied the Police’s request to release Mr. Sosu for arrest.
The Speaker stated in a letter dated October 28 to the Deputy Director-General of Criminal Investigation Division, F.K. Agyei, that Mr. Sosu could not be released due to the limitations of Articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution.
“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,” Deputy Director of Legal Services, Nana Tawiah Okyir wrote on behalf of the Clerk of Parliament.
The Madina Member of Parliament, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has been officially charged with causing damage to public property by the police.
ACP Kwasi Ofori, Director General of the Police Service’s Public Affairs Directorate, stated on Wednesday, November 3, that he is scheduled to appear in court on November 8.
“The Police has obtained a criminal summons and has been duly served for him to appear in court on November 8…as we enumerated the charges includes obstructing the highway, causing damage to public property,” he said.
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