Parliament has rejected claims that it is obstructing the work of the Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu in the prosecution of Bawku Central Member of Parliament (MP), Mahama Ayariga.
There appears to be tension between Parliament and the Office of the Special Prosecutor over the case.
While the Office of the Special Prosecutor demanded that Mr Ayariga be present in court to answer to his charges, Parliament insisted that his privileges as a legislator do not support and assist him being made to face the law in a way that interfered with his duty as a parliamentarian.
According to Parliament, its engagement with Mr Amidu was to draw his attention to some articles in the 1992 constitution which offered Mr Ayariga some protection from legal proceedings in a way that interfered with his parliamentary duties.
A statement issued and signed by Mrs Kate Addo, the Acting Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, stressed that “it has informed the Special Prosecutor that the Member of Parliament, Mr Ayariga can be tried any day during the long three-month vacation from August to October but is surprised that an impression has been created that parliament is sabotaging the prosecution of Mr Ayariga the Member of Parliament for Bawku Central.”
Mr Amidu had accused the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, of interfering in his work of prosecuting corrupt parliamentarians who had abused their office insisting that, “I wrote to the judge with a certificate directing the judge how he should behave, the judge turned it down, there is nothing like bi-partisan interference in the work of the Office of the Special Prosecutor when the legislature which made the law and gave the independence tries to interfere as to how it is executed.” -citinewsroom.com
