Police vs. Parliament ‘first major gaffe of IGP Dampare’ – Agalga
James Agalga is MP for Builsa South
Member of Parliament for Builsa North, James Agalga has described the recent back and forth between the Ghana Police Service and Parliament as the ‘first major gaffe’ of Inspector-General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare.
Read full articleHe insisted in an interview on Accra-based Citi TV that aired on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, that the Police chief was clearly being overzealous in his moves relative to the attempted arrest of the MP for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu.
“I think this is the first major gaffe of the IGP, Dr. Dampare and I want to send a word of caution that he should not be overzealous. I should think (he is overzealous) in these circumstances I think he is being overzealous,” he said on the Face To Face show.
“And he needs to understand that the democratic dispensation that we all are very happy to embrace does not allow the police themselves to also behave as if they are above the law.
“Just as we are being told in the face that Members of Parliament are not above the law, I want to remind him that the Police Service itself owes its existence to the 1992 Constitution,” he continued.
Agalga continued his caution to Dampare stating: “He must be mindful about the clear provisions of Article 222 and 177, it is not for nothing that the framers of the Constitution put it there.”
The Police and Parliament standoff started with the attempted arrest of a lawmaker, Francis-Xavier Sosu who a week ago, led a protest in parts of his constituency against bad roads.
Police through the Criminal Investigations Department had written a letter requesting the Speaker of Parliament releases Sosu for interrogation relative to some issues that marred the protest but in an official communication to the Police last week, the Speaker turned down the request.
Prior to the letter to Parliament, the MP declined an invitation by Police on basis of privileges he enjoyed but the Police reportedly attempted a second arrest last Sunday at the MP’s Church. They deny that officers had gone specifically to arrest the MP.
Police have also said they might seek Supreme Court interpretation on Constitutional provisions relating to privileges of MPs relative to arrest.
