Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says he is not afraid to be imprisoned for undertaking his constitutional oversight mandate.
His comments follow a motion filed by the Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral of Ghana, Reverend Victor Kusi Boateng, praying the court to commit Mr Ablakwa to prison over what he described as misconduct.
The MP had kicked a writ meant to be served on him by a court bailiff on Friday, February 3.
Mr Ablakwa reportedly explained that he was on his way to Parliament when the bailiff approached him at the forecourt of Accra-based Metro TV to be served with Rev Kusi Boateng’s writ.
In a Facebook post on Thursday, February 9, the Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee said he was prepared to be a “political prisoner of conscience.”
“A country where parliamentarians carrying out their constitutional oversight mandate become victims of state-sponsored harassment, strange court injunctions and judicial threats of imprisonment even as double identity charlatans are protected and pampered is definitely a nation in the dark abyss.
“Let the cowardly forces of tyranny be told that I am not one to be frightened with imprisonment.
“I am ever ready to be a political prisoner of conscience than to be coerced and compromised into a behind-the-scenes deal with the corrosive enemies of the Republic,” he posted.
Mr Ablakwa further thanked members of the National Democratic Congress for the support given to him to do his parliamentary work.
“I wish to express heartfelt appreciation and profound gratitude for the overwhelming solidarity and words of encouragement I have received since the series of cathedral exposés in the pursuit of my constitutional mandate of oversight, and in the face of the current fascist machinations to use the judiciary and other state institutions to silence and intimidate me.
“I am eternally indebted to the good people of Ghana, my dearest family, former President H.E. John Mahama, the NDC executive led by Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the NDC Council of Elders chaired by Alhaji Mahama Iddrisu, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku Agyemang, my beloved North Tongu constituents, the rank and file of NDC comrades across the country, Civil Society Organisations, activists, genuine pastors, the media, my dedicated staff, gallant and dependable colleagues of the NDC Caucus in Parliament led by Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson.”
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has condemned the suit against the North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa by Reverend Victor Kusi Boateng.
A statement signed by its leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, described the suit as both shameful and a deliberate act to gag Ghanaians, especially members of Parliament, from carrying out their constitutional mandates.
According to them, any such attempt will be opposed fiercely, insisting their duties enshrined in the constitution will be performed to the letter.
It will be recalled that the Secretary to the Board of the National Cathedral Secretariat, Rev Kusi Boateng, secured a restraining order against the North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The court ordered that Mr Ablakwa cannot make “any public disclosures of the private information, documents, correspondence, communication and property belonging to the applicant”.