Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a Governance Lecturer at the Central University, has slammed Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin for having a military security detail.
Four soldiers guarding the Speaker, according to a letter signed by Chief of Staff, Major General Nicholas Peter Andoh, have been recalled to base.
The letter read they were "attached to the Office of the Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament without the proper procedure."
“It is humbly requested that the personnel are withdrawn with effect from 14 January 2022 while efforts are made to regularise their attachment,” it further said.
However, the Speaker and the Minority in Parliament find the withdrawal of the soldiers as unfair treatment.
Speaker Fumes
To the Speaker, the action as "untenable".
A statement issued by his Office questioned the withdrawal saying the action "hints at the possibility of a plot to place the safety and security of the Speaker in harm's way."
To him, this is a "bad precedent" and "detracts from the political gains that Ghana has made", and further warned that "if it is an attempt to gag the Speaker, this move will serve to only widen the gap between the legislature and the other arms of government".
Minority Lambasts Gov't
A couple of days later, the NDC Members of Parliament (MPs) led by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddirisu joined the fray saying the decision to withdraw these soldiers was "politically motivated".
The Minority, in a statement, said they are ''saddened and strongly denounce the withdrawal by President Akufo-Addo’s government of the military detail attached to the office of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Alban Bagbin with effect from the 14th January, 2022. It is pertinent to note that the only reason given for the shameful withdrawal of Mr Speaker’s security detail is that the attachment was done without following the proper procedure''.
''Curiously, the government fails and/ or omits to spell out the procedure for the attachment of military personnel to high profile personalities such as the speaker of Parliament.
If the action of the military high command is in good faith, the irregularity in relation to the attachment could be rectified without necessarily having to withdraw the personnel...the minority is certain that the action of the military high command relative to the withdrawal of Mr Speaker’s security detail is politically motivated and calculated to diminish his confidence in his bid to impartially and independently steer the affairs of the legislative arm of government'', they added.
Dr. Otchere-Ankrah's Take
To Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, the Speaker doesn't deserve to be protected by Military officers.
He wondered why the Speaker's request was granted in the first place asking ''who granted that he should be given the four soldiers?''
He cautioned the government not to set such precedent saying ''if there is something you cannot continue, don't begin. Just don't start! We've had Speaker upon Speaker and we say none has had a Military [protection]. Why is it that just this Speaker (Bagbin) says he wants military protection? I don't agree with him that, to begin with, he would request military protection because his predecessors never had military protection''.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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