It’s high level of absurdity to hide under immunity and misconduct yourself

Former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has expressed disgust over Madina MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu snubbing Police invite for interrogation on the protest at Madina last week.

The demonstrators blocked roads and burned tyres which contravenes the Public Order Act.

The MP, who led the protest, also reportedly drove his vehicle at top speed through the midst of two Police officers on the scene and some civilians as he angrily left the place.

Due to these developments, the Police invited him but he refused to honour the invite causing the law enforcement agency to make a request to the Speaker of Parliament to release him to Police.

Their request was also turned down as the Speaker, in a letter addressed to the Police, argued that ”proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament commenced on Tuesday 26th October 2021, and having regard to the limitations of articles 117 and 118 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic, he is unable to release the Member of Parliament as requested in your letter”.

Reacting to the issue on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’, Kwamena Duncan was disappointed in the MP.

Although acknowledging Parliament’s immunity that protects Members of Parliament from being arrested or subjected to any law enforcement agency’s order while the person is on Parliamentary duties, he also found it highly absurd for an MP to hide under the cover of immunity and misconduct himself.

”It will constitute a very high level of absurdity that because a Member of Parliament has immunities and privileges and which are indeed well-intended and which are informed by historical facts, and which in my view must be maintained because we do not know what might happen tomorrow. We don’t know which government might come tomorrow and may want us to visit our past and so, for me, I endorse them but there must be a pronouncement.”

“Where do we draw the line?”, he asked for legal interpretation of the immunity clauses.

However, to him, the Police haven’t faulted by inviting the MP as “when a protest take place and someone offends the Public Order Act, the leader of the protest, directly or indirectly involved in the offence, will be the first to be called by the Police because he leads the protest”.