Miracles Dennis Aboagye, a member of the Presidential staff, has criticized National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs for skipping parliamentary sessions in order to support Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson and other caucus members during their court trials.

After the Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, announced the caucus would boycott Parliament until the case was resolved, the Minority caucus accompanied Mr. Quayson to court on Thursday, July 6.

Miracles Dennis Aboagye, on the other hand, criticized the caucus’ action as pointless and advised the MPs to employ that same enthusiasm to help their constituents who are incarcerated in police cells all around the nation. He noted that many people have been held in detention for several years without having their cases heard in court to decide their destiny.

In addition, the Presidential staffer also criticized the MPs for failing to help their people who are involved in legal proceedings and stressed that their choice to back Gyakye Quayson was made in ‘poor faith’.

He deemed the manner in which the NDC MPs are expressing their support for Quayson as excessive and expressed his concern that mayhem might break out, if other organizations decided to adopt a similar posture.

“What if there’s a case involving a nurse, doctor or teacher, or soldier and the various associations also decide to be in court? You can imagine the chaos if every group decides to support their own.”
Miracles Dennis Aboagye

In addition, Miracles Dennis Aboagye claimed that despite Ato Forson spending so much time in court, no one boycotted sessions to support him; but, as soon as Gyakye Quayson gets a lawsuit, the minority decided not to participate in the proceedings in parliament. He said he did not understand the reason behind this.

He stressed that the Minority caucus is engaging in excessive politics and said that if all cases were heard on the same day, the caucus would not be able to attend all hearings simultaneously.

He further asked, “Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why are we stampeding the court? Why are we trying to pressure the court?”

“You are saying that until the case is withdrawn from court, you are not going to do your work. And that every day that he’s in court, you are going to be there. Think about this, what has this got to do with MPs boycotting Parliament? Allow the court to work. Use the same energy to boycott Parliament to support your constituents in police custody.
“The manner in which they are showing support is unreasonable. Their decision to boycott Parliament and support Quayson is in bad faith. I see a lot of hypocrisy and bad faith in the action of the Minority because it is one of their own.”
Miracles Dennis Aboagye

On Thursday, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, also showed up in court. A criminal investigation into an alleged financial loss to the state of €2.37 million is currently underway against Dr. Ato Forson. The agreement to buy 200 ambulances between 2014 and 2016 is the primary focus of the case.

James Gyakye Quayson, on the other hand, is currently facing forgery and perjury accusations before the High Court in Accra.

Minority Caucus Acting Like Truants

Following their boycott of Parliament due to the prosecution of some of their members, the Minority in Parliament was referred to as truants by Franklin Cudjoe, the founding President of Imani Africa.

However, he asked how they should make their point against the prosecution, which he described as ‘persecution’.

In a Facebook post, Mr Cudjoe said “Truancy. Truants Minority MPs. But then, how else should they fight off precocious persecution against a good man, Gyakye Quayson? My call on the A-G still stands. Abandon the persecution of Quayson and focus on SALL.”

As stated by Dr. Rasheed Draman, the Executive Director of the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), the minority would need to reconsider their choice to boycott parliament. He stated that boycotts would not be viable, particularly if the cases were to travel a great distance.