A Senior Economics Lecturer at the Kumasi Polytechnic, Thomas Kusi Boafo has described the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga as a coward for apologizing after the bribery allegation against some of his colleagues in Parliament and the Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko.
According to him, Mr Ayariga should produce evidence of the bribery allegation he has made if indeed he is confident that the committee did a shoddy work and not take this matter lightly since it is a stain on the entire august house.
“Right from the onset, I liked Ayariga’s posture because his comments one way or the other showed that indeed he knows what he is alleging but I felt really bad and shocked when he apologized to Parliament.
“If you are telling the truth, nothing or no one should intimidate you but it looks like Ayariga’s case is different and I’m beginning to believe that he only cooked up this story just to make parliament unpopular. He is just a coward for apologising,” he said on Accra based Okay fm.
The Bawku Central MP has reportedly written an apology letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Michael Aaron Oquaye.
The apology letter comes a day after disagreements over the Joe Ghartey committee report that found the MP guilty of contempt of Parliament.
Sources indicate that, Mr. Ayariga submitted the apology letter through the Speaker’s Deputy.
He is also expected to apologize to Energy Minister, Boakye, Agyarko, for his comments which sought to link him to his allegation of bribery in Parliament.
The Speaker, the sources indicated have been approved by the speaker and therefore he is expected to officially apologize on the floor of parliament.
The Bawku Central MP, who made the bribery claims against Members of the Appointments Committee and Minister of Energy Boakye Agyarko, was found guilty of contempt of Parliament, following investigations by the committee which concluded that “Mr. Mahama Ayariga is in Contempt of Parliament on the strength of Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and Orders 28 and 30 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament.”
The committee, after rubbishing Mr. Ayariga’s bribery allegation on Thursday, asked him to render an unqualified apology to purge himself of contempt.
But Mr. Ayariga, who appeared unhappy with the work of the committee, reluctantly rendered the apology, saying; “Mr. Speaker, if you say I should apologize, I have apologized.”
Mr Kusi Boafo maintained that Ayariga should go beyond the apology.
“Now I see Ayariga as a sacrificial lamb. He should come out and rubbish the report if he believes otherwise and explore till the matter is investigated further. If he doesn’t pursue this case till the end, then he will disappoint his constituents” he insisted.
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