Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen show, Mr Darko called the referral a politically motivated move that the Minority will fiercely resist.

“I believe at the Privileges Committee this matter will be dealt with. I wish we hadn’t gotten here,” he said.
“He is the leader of the entire Minority group. When you are referred to the committee, you can actually be expelled from Parliament—is that what they want to do? I’m not happy about it.”

Mr Darko insisted that the Minority remains united behind its leader and will not be intimidated.

“From outside, it looks like an attempt to weaken the Minority, but we are not swayed. We are stronger and united as ever. The Minority is behind our leader every step of the way,” he emphasised.

His comments follow Speaker Alban Bagbin’s ruling on Wednesday, November 27, referring Afenyo-Markin to the Privileges Committee for alleged contempt of Parliament. According to the Speaker, the Minority Leader persistently disregarded a parliamentary decision removing him from Ghana’s delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament and continued to participate in its proceedings.

The committee is expected to investigate the matter and make recommendations to the House.

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A sponsor of the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, Sam George has explained that Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin did not block the third reading of the bill.

Early on Thursday, February 15, Mr Afenyo-Markin opposed the provision of the bill that would lead to the imprisonment of individuals accused of engaging in or promoting LGBTQ+ activities.

According to him, the bill’s punitive action would not aid in rehabilitating the culprits.

Reports have suggested that but for his opposition, the passage of the controversial legislation would have gone through today.

But Sam George insists that Afenyo-Markin did not ‘arrest of the third reading’ of the bill.

Speaking on Joy FM’s TopStory on February 15, he argued that “Afenyo Markin did not arrest the third reading. He would have been defeated with ease on the floor.”

He clarified that he and another sponsor, Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah intended to do a second consideration of the bill.

“We, as sponsors have about 10 amendments we want to make to the draft the persons have brought. For example, if you look at the head notes of what the draft person have brought, we agreed at the House to delete Ghanaian. So, the bill will not read Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values; it will read Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.

“We decided to delete ‘proper and  Ghanaian.’ They did that but in some of the clauses you still see Ghanaian repeat itself there so we needed to clean those things up so we ourselves were going to do a second consideration.”

As such, he said after Mr Afenyo-Markin contributed to the debate, his co-sponsor seconded the motion, implying the Deputy Majority Leader did not disrupt the third reading.

“That is the reason why my co-sponsor Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah responded by seconding the motion. So, Afenyo did not have what it took to arrest the bill,” he said.

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The leader, who doubles as Member of Parliament for Effutu, referred to the censure motion as a failed political censure full of unfounded allegations meant to throw dust in the eyes of Ghanaians.

He stressed the Majority will not support the Minority when reacting to the Minority’s assertion that the needed attention was not given to the report.

He made these comments in Parliament after Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, had raised questions on why the report from the Adhoc Committee is not featuring in the work plan of the House, indicating the rules were strict on the processes.

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According to him, such comments undermine the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

Former President John Mahama has for some time taken on the Judiciary alleging it is being manipulated by political powers.

The 2020 NDC flagbearer, who lost the elections and a subsequent petition at the Supreme Court, insists the Judiciary must undergo urgent reforms.

But addressing the University of Cape Coast Law Students Union, Mr Afenyo-Markin, who is also a Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu in the Central Region, said the President only acted in accordance with the constitutions in appointing judges to the courts.

“Judicial Independence is considered a foundational pillar for mounting and maintaining judicial integrity and the rule of law itself.

“Indeed, the framers of the Constitution must have understood this fact. It explains why the Constitution 1992, while giving authority to the President to appoint certain categories of persons who serve in our Judiciary, also casts around the Judiciary a powerful veil of independence to shield it from the explicit or crafty acts of the appointor.

“Increasingly, however, the Judiciary is coming under unjust fire merely because vacancies have occurred in crucial courts in recent years.

“And, a dutiful President of the Republic has had to discharge the sacred obligation imposed by the Constitution 1992 on him to make appointments to fill those vacancies.

“Those appointments coincided with subsequent judicial decisions against some plaintiffs of a particular political colour.

“And so, critics have dangerously weaponised the appointment of judicial officers in a way as to mislead unsuspecting citizens into believing that judges do the bidding of the Presidents who appoint them.

“This is a dangerous trend that must be discouraged to protect the health of our democracy. While the is a case to be made for constitutional reforms to deepen judicial independence, it certainly cannot be, and they’re certainly no evidence to show that the current constitutional arrangements have failed and that our justices lack the presence of mind to think and act independently”, he indicated.

The three-time Member of Parliament said the Judiciary in Ghana has demonstrated that the courts have come of age stressing that It has left the dark shadows of its inglorious past and appears resolutely committed to defending all citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms.

But despite the successes, Mr Afenyo-Markin said there is still room for improvement. Nonetheless, he indicates, it is a fallacy for anyone, no matter how distinguished, to suggest that the Judiciary in Ghana still bends to the will of those who belong to the Executive Arm of Government.

“Let me state without any fear of contradiction that it is fair and democratic for citizens to criticize the work of our justices constructively. We saw this in the constructive criticisms that followed the judicial bribery scandal in 2015 and how the institutions of state responded swiftly by punishing all the Justices and the judicial officers found culpable.

“However, there is everything diabolic about barefaced attacks that, in and of themselves, seek to intimidate our Justices and bend them to the will of those sections of the public and the political class who believe that, willy-nilly, they are entitled to win every case; no matter how worthless the evidence supporting their claims in Court.

“Such attacks undermine public confidence in our Judiciary and go a long way to encourage unsuspecting citizens to take the law into their own hands in a way that poses a potent threat to our national security”, he warned.

According to him, while the Akufo-Addo-led administration can boast of many successes within the five years that it has been in power, some challenges must be tackled and addressed as the party seeks to break the eight-year political circle.

Addressing a three-day workshop for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Majority Group in Parliament, the Effutu Member of Parliamet said the government has a responsibility to respond to the needs of the people while deepening the enviable gains made and communicate, market, and sell the achievements.

“Recently, ladies and gentlemen, I sat down to have ‘Waakye’ with some ordinary citizens of our great nation. It was not planned. It was a random act on a fine Saturday morning. But, as we ate together, these citizens of our country shared the concerns agitating their minds with me.

“They spoke about the growing challenges facing their businesses; concerns about the limited job opportunities available in our country; the increasing difficulties they face trying to put food on their dinner tables.

“They worry about the falling value of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar and other major currencies, as well as the never-ending infrastructure deficit in Ghana’s health, energy, education and road sectors,” he said.

According to him, while these concerns are sometimes unfounded, unpalatable, and unjust, there are times that they are the plain truth, indicating they are the realities facing many of the people who voted for the NPP to power to serve the country.

He, therefore, urged the government to see such comments, either good or bad, as stark reminders that while a lot has been done at various levels to transform the country and her economy fundamentally, there is still much work to be done.

“We must tell the good stories about the record number of Ghanaian children successfully graduating from our Senior High Schools free of charge. We must tell the compelling story of the new rail tracks being built around the country. Finally, we must tell the story about the new cocoa production record we have just set.

“We must sell the story of the modern and relatively cheaper district hospitals being built across the country and many more. Yes; we must tell these stories until every city, every township, every village, every hamlet, every settlement and indeed every citizen of Ghana hears and appreciates the actual value of our good works under the Government of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

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“These records will persuade the good people of Ghana and the International community that between the NPP and the opposition, we are the only factual definition of value for money,” he stressed.

The party, according to him, will in the next few weeks gain new insights into Political Communication in its many emerging forms, adding that strategic marketing and communication will be vital in helping break the eight.

“To achieve these, we must seize every opportunity that presents itself to tell the story of our government. We must grab every moment we get on the mass media to sell and defend our record.

“Also, we must do our very best to get our story told more positively on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked-In, Tik-Tok, Snapchat, and the rest,” he charged the MPs.

Chairman of PAC, James Klutse Avedzi, on Monday ordered the arrest of two officials who were picked up by Parliament’s police after they were cited for irregularities at the Sefwi Akontombra Assembly in the Western region.

“Are we documentation examiners? Are we fraud examiners? On what basis did we say the document is compromised,” Mr Afenyo-Markin quizzed.

 Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Afenyo-Markin questioned the PAC’s order for the arrest of two district assembly officials accused of lying to the Committee.

“We shouldn’t set a bad precedent. Under criminal jurisprudence, due process is essential, therefore to me, as a matter of law, if there were issues regarding the testimonies, Avedzi should have filed a complaint or go to the police to file a complaint,” he said.

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To Mr Afenyo-Markin, stressed procedure is of as much importance as substance in corruption fight.

He added that Mr Avedzi could even compromise the committee’s mandate by “overzealously acting in a manner that will abuse people’s rights” because certain conclusions “require proper investigative evaluation.”

Two persons: Isaac Akowaah, a former District Finance Officer of the assembly and James Esilfie, the current District Finance Officer, were accused of conniving to lie to the committee over irregularities cited in their report, hence their arrest.

NAM1, as he is popularly known, had sought the government’s intervention in retrieving his $39 million from Horizon Royal Diamond in Dubai.

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The embattled CEO, in a news conference on Monday, pleaded with the government to help his firm settle debts owed his customers and help retrieve some $39 million debt owed him by a Dubai company, Royal Horizon.

Speaking in an interview on Adom TV‘s Badwam show, Hon Afenyo-Markins described the briefing as disappointing, saying there was the need for the Information Ministry not to take his statements for granted.

“I was happy NAM1 was bold to speak on the issue but he created an impression that the government is in the position to help him pay his customers but whether legally or diplomatically, the government has no role,” the MP noted.

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“NAM1 must be able to use the legal machinery in Dubai to settle this issue,” he said

Hon Afenyo-Markins added, “His communication style was wrong because if he really wanted to solve the problem, he could have disclosed vital information on his assets, his amounts in the bank and how best he can sit with stakeholders to discuss payment plans and the plans to liquidate his assets.”

Source: Adomonline.com|Gertrude Otchere