Majority Chief Whip, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has clashed with the Minority leader of Parliament, Afenyo-Markin, over the arrest of arrest and detention of Dennis Miracles Aboagye.
Afenyo-Markin on the floor of Parliament demanded that the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, appear before Parliament to explain the arrest and detention.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin stated, “Mr Speaker, what is happening to Miracles Aboagye is not good for our democracy. The Attorney General should come to this House and brief the House on the situation”.
“We are not against accountability. We are against the Rambo style,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin further issued a warning to his colleagues on both sides of the House that the current treatment of an opposition figure could one day be visited upon them.
“Our colleagues should not be up in arms. It can be you tomorrow. Let’s be careful, my dear political colleagues. Let’s be careful, Ghanaian political leaders. It can be somebody today. There is an election ahead. You can never tell. Don’t let us encourage some of these excesses. And when we talk about it, don’t look at it with a partisan lens. It can be you,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin also raised concerns about the bail conditions imposed on Miracles Aboagye, saying, “He has a wife and children. Already, the man was affected by the floods. He lost everything. He’s already traumatised. Then, to worsen it, you detain him for three days, and you say if he wants his freedom, he should bring properties worth 50 million cedis. How do you do this?”.
Reacting to the Minority Leader’s demands, Dafeamekpor argued that the MAfenyo-Markin has no basis to request the Attorney General’s appearance over an ongoing investigation being conducted by EOCO.
Dafeamekpor said, “The Minority Leader has no right under the sun to suggest that where an investigative body has conducted a year-long investigation into a matter, has invited the suspects, and now has made a prima facie determination and is effecting an arrest that may possibly lead to prosecution, we should invite the Attorney General to come and respond to what?”.
He further accused the Minority of taking an inconsistent position on public accountability, adding that the Minority had previously urged politicians to hold public officials accountable for their actions but are now defending a public office holder facing investigation.
“Is it not the same man who stands on this floor encouraging us that we as politicians should be careful and that it is the public servants who do all the things that we get blamed for? And today, when the public servant is being blamed, you are saying that he shouldn’t be blamed?”, he asked.
“So, by all means, we can do politics, but some of the things, Mr Speaker, must not be countenanced on this floor”, he stated.
Meanwhile, viral videos have surfaced on social media following the release of Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 flagbearer, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, from the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
Miracles Aboagye was released after meeting his GH¢50 million bail conditions set by EOCO.
His release follows three days of detention after he was picked up by EOCO officials at the Accra International Airport in connection with ongoing investigations.
Watch the video below:
@ghnow_ Heated moment! Afenyo-Markin and Hon. Rockson Dafeamekpor again clash in parliament over the EOCO arrest of Dennis Miracle Aboagye #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
