Parliament Invasion: Who the heck are you? – Cudjoe demands identity of mysterious commander

In the early morning of January 7, 2021, some military officers stormed the chamber of parliament ostensibly to restore order on the floor which had been turned into an area of chaos.

Up until today, the person who gave the order for the military invasion of the Legislative Arm of government on the day that a constitutional assignment was being undertaken and at a time when the nation's constitutional architecture was highly vulnerable is yet to be unearthed.

The closest the nation has ever been in finding the identity of the mystery order issuer came on Wednesday, February 10, 2021, when the Minister-designate for National security, Albert Kan-Dapaah went before Parliaments Appointment Committee for vetting having been renominated for the same position by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Asked by a panel member who gave the order for armed military men to storm the chamber of Parliament, the nominee said he could not specifically mention the name of the person but was aware the order was given by a commander in the army who felt the need to restore order in the chaotic speaker election process.

Reacting to the nominee’s statement in an interview with GhanaWeb, Mr Franklin Cudjoe said he finds it difficult to believe that the nominee was being truthful to the committee in his answer.

“I don’t believe him, especially on a matter that is as serious as this, its like saying to the Democrats in America that persons who were caught on tape destroying Congresses’ properties should not be mentioned. I think in this singular matter he is telling us that well he heard it was a major. But naturally, the next question would’ve been what’s the name of the major?,” he said.

The Policy think tank head questioned the level of seriousness being given the matter and said the mystery officer should have been interdicted whiles demanding the immediate revelation of his identity to the public.

“This is a serious matter; I don’t think the National Security Minister was being fair to us. In any case, for me even if he had mentioned the name, in this country where we are not serious about anything it wouldn’t have cured anything anyway.

"What it only means is that he said that the matter was being investigated so I wonder how it is taking too long to investigate. That person should have been interdicted by now, whoever did that and his explanation that he was trying to ensure normalcy.

"Who gave the man the heck of a right to think that he can ensure normalcy by giving the directive? Who is he, who is that commander?

"In fact, I think by now we should know who he is so that we can trace exactly who gave him that order. Because I don’t think he did that thing all by himself. That issue that he did it by himself is possibly a lie,” he added.