Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the government of colluding with the Koforidua High Court to harass the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Ernest Yaw Kumi.
His claims follow the Interior Minister, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka’s, justification of attempts to arrest Kumi after the Koforidua High Court issued a bench warrant against him for contempt.
Addressing journalists, Afenyo-Markin criticized the National Investigation Bureau (NIB), alleging that the government and judiciary were manipulating legal procedures for political purposes.
“The NIB attempted to arrest Honorable Ernest Kumi of Akwatia. We found it very strange that the minister justified the actions of the National Investigation Bureau. Clearly, there is collusion between the government and the High Court in Koforidua to use their own set of laws in our country,” he stated.
He further questioned the enforcement process of the court order, arguing that the registrar, not the National Security Coordinator’s representative in the Eastern Region, should have been responsible for its execution.
“With the greatest respect, that is not how our laws work. When there is a court order, it is for the registrar to assign a bailiff to enforce it. This was a situation where the Supreme Court had already frozen the enforcement of that order, yet a week after the ruling, state security operatives were harassing the MP in his constituency,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin alleged that security operatives arrived in pickup vehicles, brandishing weapons and attempting to force Kumi into a vehicle before his constituents intervened.
He warned the government against undermining the rule of law and vowed to seek accountability, stating that he would file a parliamentary question for the Attorney General to explain the circumstances surrounding the judiciary’s alleged collusion with the National Security Coordinator in the Eastern Region.