Member of Parliament for Builsa North, James Agalga, has said that the bench warrant issued for the arrest of his colleague Madina Lawmaker, Francis-Xavier Sosu is unconstitutional.
He explained that Sosu has been embarking on Parliamentary duties regarding the public hearing on the anti-gay bill when his case was called hence, he could not have appeared before the court.
Any attempt to obstruct him will be illegal, he added.
Mr Agalga told TV3 in an interview on Monday that “As a Deputy Ranking member, Sosu has a duty to the people of this country to attend upon the committee and do justice to the public hearing.
“We heard about the bench warrant. Whiles he was out of the jurisdiction Parliament did communicate to the court about the fact that he was out of the jurisdiction in pursuit of Parliamentary business.
“I am saying that he is back to the jurisdiction. Today, you are in a better position to say whether Honourable Sosu is engaged in Parliamentary business or not. I am saying that the attempt to obstruct this August House from carrying out its duties is wrong, in fact it is unconstitutional, and we must all respect that there are limits to everything. Nobody has said Sosu is above the law.”
The Kaneshie District Court has on Monday November 29 issued a bench warrant for the arrest Sosu.
This was after his inability to show up in court on Monday, November 29, when the case against him was called.
His lawyer Victor Kwadjoga Adawudu told the court that Sosu is attending to Parliamentary duty as the Constitutional and Legal Committee of Parliament resumes public sitting on the anti-Gay bill.
The court presided over by His Worship Oheneba Kuffour granted a request to issue a bench warrant for his arrest after the prosecution led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare said Sosu did not want to appear before the court.
Sosu had not been to answer to answer charges against him since the case was initiated.
At the last hearing on Tuesday November 16, the legislator failed to show up in court as he is still out of the jurisdiction on parliamentary duties.
Magistrate of the Court, Oheneba Kuffour citing another letter from Speaker Alban Bagbin noted that the Madina MP has not returned from his duties.
He however described some portions of the letter from parliament as confusing.
He cited the part of the letter which states, “I have been directed by the Rt. Hon. Speaker to bring to the attention of the Hon.
Court that the Hon. Member is attending at the proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the first Session of the 8th Parliament, which commenced on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, and is also currently representing Parliament and the Country in a conference in the United States of America.”
Magistrate Kuffour was of the view that the letter created the impression Parliament was sitting in Ghana and abroad.
But reacting to the concern raised by the Magistrate, lead counsel of Francis Sosu, Victor Adawudu explained that it meant the MP was performing parliamentary duties.
“I’ve always insisted that Sosu is not a coward. If he has rights he will defend. We don’t see this as any matter that he will run away from,” Victor Adawudu intimated. He assured that the MP would show up in court once he returned.
The case was subsequently adjourned to 29th November, 2021.
The Police had been seeking to arrest him for allegedly involving in a violent protests in his constituency.
The National Democratic Congress MP had led some of his constituents to embark on a demonstration against deplorable roads in his constituency.
The demonstration started peacefully at Danfa around 6:00am but later saw demonstrators burning tyres and mounting roadblocks on the Ayi Mensah-Danfa Road.
Sosu has however denied saying “That any allegation of the Police about my involvement in unlawful blockade of road and destruction of public property is false and an afterthought carefully manufactured by the police to shift attention of the people of Ghana from the key issues of bad roads raised by our protest and demonstration.”
