MP Dragged To Court Over Mob Assault On Soldiers

Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, the Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, has been arraigned before Court over allegations that he incited a mob assault on a military team from the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), over the weekend.

The assault happened at Bronikrom–Hwediem in the Ahafo Region when residents physically obstructed and prevented the military team from carrying out an anti-illegal mining operation they were on.

Ebenezer Kwaku Addo has denied he incited the attacks on the soldiers and obstruction of their official duties. He admits he was present at the crime scene but claims his presence there was to ensure peace.

Addressing Parliament on the matter yesterday, Tuesday, November 4, the Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, said Ebenezer Kwaku Addo was invited to the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service and when he showed up, was arraigned before Court.

The Majority Leader explained:

“We all heard in the media that there was an attack on an anti-galamsey Task Force in Asutifi South and I later got some indication that a Member on this side of the House is alleged to have instigated some community members to resist the work of the Task Force. Let me indicate that yesterday I got a call from the Minister for the Interior, Honorable Muntaka that the IGP needed the Member for interrogation.

“We scheduled that this morning, the Member should be sent to the CID Headquarters to meet with one of the Deputy CID Directors for processing. This morning, he went with our Majority Chief Whip and his lawyer. They received him at the CID Headquarters and took him through the processes and I received as call not quite long ago that he has been taken to court and as we speak, he is actually in court being arraigned”, Mahama Ayariga stated.

The Majority Leader told the House that Ebenezer Kwaku Addo has denied the allegations.

Alban Bagbin

Before the narrative from the Majority Leader, the Speaker of the House, Alban Bagbin, had condemned the attacks on the soldiers and cautioned that his Office would not shield any Member who breaks the law.

“Also worrying is the fact that the attack was allegedly incited by one of our own, the Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, who further roped in a senior member of this House, Honourable Collins Dauda…

“I want to take this opportunity to condemn in no uncertain terms the attack on the team of security officers who have been assigned to help deal with the menace of galamsey, which must be addressed robustly,” Speaker Bagbin noted

“I have therefore instructed the Office of the Clerk and the Legal Services Office to provide all necessary support to the Ghana Police Service in its investigations, within the framework of the 1992 Constitution, the laws of this country, and the Standing Orders of the House”, the Speaker added.

Afenyo-Markin

When the Speaker called the Minority Leader, Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin to speak to the matter briefly, he said there is the need to depoliticize the fight against illegal mining and rather all political leaders confront the menace as a united front with the sole aim of stopping illegal mining in all its shades and forms.

“The matter you’ve just raised, galamsey is one thing that for the want of a better word, I must say that we as political leaders, active stakeholders of this democracy have failed and I say so without mincing words. We must as political actors know that there are maters that we have to agree upon and nib it in the bud”, Afenyo-Markin stated.

He continued: “Mr. Speaker, can we as political leaders, for once, agree to stay the partisan approach on this matter and deal with it and let out citizens know that his is a matter that affects the country and our own livelihoods.  Perhaps the medical practitioners are not sharing with us the revealing reports in the various hospitals enough so to us, it is business as usual.

“I would wait for another day where we would discuss this matter in detail but I would say that the issue of galamsey calls for collective action not an NDC NPP affair but a Ghana affair”, Afenyo-Markin noted.