The Majority Caucus in Parliament has expressed concern about the refusal of the Speaker of Parliament, the Rt. Hon Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin to release the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Madina constituency, Francis-Xavier Sosu to the Ghana Police Service to assist with investigations into alleged offenses committed during a recent demonstration in his constituency.
In a press release on Thursday copied to the Parliamentary Press Corps (PPC), the Majority side of Parliament maintained that in a letter dated October 27, 2021, the police officially identified the MP as a person of interest and therefore requested the Speaker to release him.
However, in a response dated October 28, 2021, the Speaker maintained that since proceedings of the third meeting of the First Session of the Eighth Parliament commenced on Tuesday, October 26, 2021and having regards to the limitations of Article 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, he is unable to release the MP as requested.
This the Majority side has viewed as a troubling departure from how hiss predecessors handled such requests. They stated that when both the Rt. Hon. Joyce Bamford Addo and Edward Doe Adjaho received such requests during their tenure in office, they responded by inviting the concerned MPs, held discussions with them and then asked them to report to the requesting police or investigating authorities.
They noted further that during the tenure of the Rt. Hon Speaker Mike Oquaye, he modified the arrangement, including making the Speaker’s conference room available to the police to meet with MPs they were interested in, and to conduct initial investigations. This he did to protect the dignity of Parliament and MPs, while at the same time ensuring that MPs are not put above the Law. “All these time, Hon Bagbin as he then was had been part of leadership of the House.
The Majority side argued that by the Speaker’s actions he appeares to be instituting new rules that seem to undermine the rule of law without any prior discussions with leadership of the House and wondered what had changed.
“As a group, the Majority believe firmly that constitutionally guaranteed immunity for MPs in our democracy must not only be protected always, but jealously guarded as well. However, never should we as a Parliament make the mistake of allowing immunity to be construed to mean impunity.
“We take a firm view that in the particular case under reference, Parliament as the law making arm of our democracy has a constitutional, legal and moral duty to co-operate and collaborate with the police to ensure that the rule of law prevails. Further, Parliament must not be seen to be creating a false regime of two separate laws in Ghana – One for MPs and another for non-MPs. Instead, Parliament must ensure the quality of all citizens, including MPs before the law,” the statement noted.
By S. O. Ankamah