Dr Abdul-Jalilu Ateku, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana, has intimated that the Police acted unprofessionally in their attempt to arrest the Member of Parliament for Madina,;Francis-Xavier Sosu.
Explaining his statement,;Dr. Ateku averred that the Police acted without recourse to the existing laws,;that is, the Article 117,;118 of the 1992 Constitution and the legal practice over the years as far as either serving or arresting an MP is concerned.
“I think that the police acted unprofessionally and that is the reason why we are where we are. 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,;I think we wouldn’t have been where we are today”.
Dr. Abdul-Jalilu Ateku
Commenting on the standoff between the police and Parliament;in the quest to pursue Francis Xavier-Sosu to assist in investigations over unlawful road blockade;and destruction of public property during a demonstration in his constituency,;Dr. Ateku said Parliament must come out with laid down procedure;in dealing with arresting MPs who fall foul of the law.
This follows the Speaker of Parliament,;Alban Bagbin’s refusal to release the MP for Madina,;Francis-Xavier Sosu to the police for questioning.
Police and Parliament must set up pragmatic systems to handle issue
Also commenting on the issue,;the executive director of the Parliamentary Network Africa,;Samuel Obeng,;described the standoff between Parliament and the police as a needless show of power.
Mr. Obeng stated that he expects the two institutions to individually set up pragmatic systems;to handle such cases and not go about it as they are currently doing. Also
“These are institutions that are expected to,;on a good day, collaborate on such arrest because the constitution is very clear on the processes and procedures as pertains to MPs and officials of the Legislature”.
Dr. Abdul-Jalilu Ateku
According to Mr. Obeng, these two institutions are supposed to be working together to be able to ensure that people who are alleged to have committed crimes are taken through the processes and dealt with via due processes.
“So, it’s a needless show of power and I think we need to rise above this. My expectation is that a proactive institution like Parliament should be putting in place systems and practices in-house on how to deal with these things.”
Dr. Abdul-Jalilu Ateku
Majority and Minority on Sosu’s Arrest
In another development on the issue, the Majority group in Parliament has suggested that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin seem to be instituting new rules that undermines the rule of law without any prior discussions with the leadership of the House. Also
The Majority said the refusal of the Speaker to release the MP to assist in police investigations in relation to a demonstration he led in his constituency, is of extreme concern.
The Minority in Parliament, on the other hand, has accused the Majority of deliberately ignoring the facts surrounding the attempted arrest of the Madina MP. The Minority said the Majority’s statement shows an attempt to undermine the authority of the Speaker. Also
