Members of Ghana’s Parliament have been advised not to consider themselves above the law.
Although they enjoy certain levels of immunity and privileges, Yaw Obeng Manu, Editor of the Ghanaian Publisher Newspaper believes they (MPs) are also expected to go through the processes every Ghanaian is taken through by the police if they break the law.
His comment comes on the back of the MP for Madina, Francis Xavier Sosu’s refusal to avail himself for questioning at the Police station when he was invited for being involved in a protest against bad roads by his constituents on Monday, October 25, 2021. The demonstration took a wrong turn when protestors blocked a section of the road and set tyres ablaze.
In a discussion on the Happy Morning Show’s Editors’ Take discussion with Samuel Eshun, Yaw Obeng Manu stated, “Parliament should not hide under the privileges and immunity clause. Maybe because they are under the privileges clause, Sosu may not be arrested or treated like the ordinary person but he should turn himself in for questioning.
If what happened at the demonstration was in opposition to the law and now you’re being asked to report for questioning, then he needs to report to the police.”
To him, the Madina MP should not fear the police will detain him unduly. “The police is not going to detain him for more than a day.”
Disappointed at the conduct of Francis-Xavier Sosu and other MPs in the past, he stated, “Our parliamentarians should respect the law just like the ordinary Ghanaian respects them. And just like the police invites the ordinary citizen for questioning and they respond, then MPs should do same. Sosu should not be running away. He is a Lawyer and the cooperation between the police and parliament should be strengthened and he shouldn’t be in hiding.”