Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Hon. Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has suggested that the recent call by some Majority MPs for the abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) was largely influenced by the arrest of private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu.
Speaking on the matter, the Manhyia South legislator explained that just last week, when the appropriation for the OSP came before Parliament, members on the Majority side, including those on the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee seconded the motion moved by the Attorney General and openly praised the OSP for its work.
“In fact last week, the appropriation for the OSP came to the floor for debate and from the majority side, the members of the Constitutional Legal Affairs who seconded the motion of the attorney general, supported and then praised the OSP.”
He noted that even his colleague, Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu, had commended the OSP during the debate, only to change his position the following day after Martin Kpebu’s arrest, declaring that “if you touch one, you touch all.” According to him, this sudden shift indicates that the arrest played a major role in the new stance taken by some MPs.
“In fact, my own brother Sosu, praised the OSP only for him to say the next day after Martin Kpebu had been arrested that if you touch one, you touch all and so it looks like what really egged the majority was the arrest of Martin Kpebu and not because of any other consideration. That is how it looks like.”
Hon. Baffour Awuah stressed that discussions about the future of the OSP should not be reduced to emotions surrounding Martin Kpebu’s arrest. He described the alleged abuse of Mr. Kpebu’s fundamental human rights as worrying and expressed sympathy for his “brother,” but insisted that national institutions must be assessed based on principle and not on isolated incidents.
According to him, focusing solely on Mr. Kpebu’s arrest risks weakening the broader debate on accountability and the country’s fight against corruption.
“I would want us as a nation to look at the office not because of the arrest of Martin Kpebu. He’s my brother, the abuse of his fundamental human rights, makes me concerned and I sympathize with him but when you reduce the discussion to merely because Martin has been arrested, it becomes very sad and becomes very default of principle.”
Source: Elvisanokyenews.com
