Afenyo-Markin justifies National Security Minister’s failure to honour Parliament’s invitation
The Deputy Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for the Effutu constituency, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has explained the failure of National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah to honour Parliament’s invitation on November 9.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin, speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, November 10, noted that Kan-Dapaah will no longer appear before Parliament on the brutality case in Garu and Tempane in the Upper East Region because the case has been settled.
He added that the eight people arrested and remanded in the case have been released and handed over to their respective families.
One person was reported dead and over 50 others were hospitalized after the military allegedly unleashed attacks on them in a reprisal on behalf of national security operatives.
The National Security Minister was therefore summoned to appear before Parliament on November 9 to brief the House on the incident and other related issues.
Responding to a question by the Member of Parliament for Buem, Kofi Adams, on when the Minister would be scheduled to brief the House on the matter in Accra on Friday, Mr. Afenyo-Markin said that the issue has been laid to rest following the release of the eight residents who were arrested as a result of the situation.
“Leadership asked me to engage the National Security Minister, and I came to report the outcome of the engagement, which led to the National Security Ministry releasing the gentlemen who were in custody. I must explain here that at the time I was sent here, the court had remanded them for two weeks. Upon all considerations, National Security, through its prosecutor, applied for rescission of the said order, which the court granted. And the same day, the government ensured that all those gentlemen were sent to Garu and handed over to the families,” he said.
“So Mr. Speaker, that matter has been settled. The National Security did what was supposed to be done, and followed due process. So, Mr. Speaker, that matter is closed,” he said.