{"id":460678,"date":"2011-07-14T08:39:41","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T08:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/07\/14\/mp%e2%80%99s-arrest-is-patapaa\/"},"modified":"2011-07-14T08:39:41","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T08:39:41","slug":"mps-arrest-is-patapaa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/07\/14\/mps-arrest-is-patapaa\/","title":{"rendered":"MP\u2019s Arrest Is Patapaa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu addressing the press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

THE MINORITY New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament yesterday slammed the arrest of their colleague, Samuel Atta Akyea, Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, condemning the Attorney-General for using power capriciously in the matter.<\/p>\n

Atta Akyea was ambushed and arrested by the police Tuesday morning while in court, reportedly on the orders of the Attorney-General, Martin Amidu, for alleged stealing and dishonest breach of trust.<\/p>\n

A contractor, Joseph Adom of J. Adom Limited, a construction firm, had accused lawyer Atta Akyea of defrauding him of $60,000.<\/p>\n

The NPP MP is currently on a $100,000 bail with one surety.<\/p>\n

However, the arrest of Atta Akyea caused a major uproar when Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei raised the issue on the floor of Parliament yesterday, with the minority group contending that the arrest was done in contravention of the provisions of the Constitution.<\/p>\n

The Minority had threatened to initiate contempt of Parliament proceedings against the Attorney-General but did not immediately carry out the threat probably because Speaker of Parliament Justice Joyce Bamford-Addo had described the incident as unfortunate and promised it would not happen again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Atta Akyea<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

However, in an impromptu news conference, the Minority warned the principal legal advisor to government against what it described as \u201cpatapaa\u201d prosecution, adding that the conduct of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice had indeed lowered the dignity of the august House.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hereby serve notice to the Attorney-General that the era of \u201cpatapaa\u201d prosecution in the infamous public tribunal system is behind us. The Attorney-General has bared his fangs. He is purposed to give a political coloration to the case between Hon. Atta Akyea and Joseph Adom,\u201d Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu warned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe assure him (Attorney-General) that such being his resolve, we will appropriately position ourselves to do legal battle with him, if that is what will curtail such whimsical resorts,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good people of this country are living witnesses to the hypocrisy of President Mills who purports to be a father to all Ghanaians. The Good Book could not be wrong when it said \u2018by their fruits ye shall know them\u2019,\u201d the Minority Leader stated, accusing the Mills administration of what it described as selective prosecution.<\/p>\n

The arrest of Atta Akyea, the Minority Leader pointed out, subverts article 118(2) of the constitution which provides that in such matters \u201cThe certificate of the Speaker that a Member or the Clerk is attending the proceedings of Parliament is conclusive evidence of attendance\u201d. According to him, the right procedure was for the Police Service or the Attorney General\u2019s Department to write to the Speaker of Parliament to tell her of an intention to arrest the MP before carrying out the arrest, with the prior approval of the Speaker.<\/p>\n

The Minority Leader, who is also the MP for Suame in the Ashanti Region, questioned why the A-G was indulging in a civil matter that was already being contested in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the State\u2019s interest in a case in which Zoe, Akyea & Co. had sued J. Adom Ltd and Joseph Adom for legal fees of GH\u00a285,693.28 and $81,569.20 and J. Adom Ltd and Joseph Adom had counter-claimed for USl44,891.31 and DS$60,000.00 and Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea has mounted the witness box and is proving the case?\u201d Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu quizzed.<\/p>\n

He questioned whether Joseph Adom had no confidence in his counterclaim and had to resort to the deployment of the coercive powers of the State to achieve his motives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe records reflect that the Attorney-General of the day did not give Hon. Twumasi Appiah, the NDC MP for Sene who was accused of some gold dealings, such a shabby treatment as a sitting Member of Parliament,\u201d the Minority Leader recounted.<\/p>\n

He wondered why the principal legal advisor to government would flout constitutional provisions just to satisfy the whims and caprices of Joseph Adom.<\/p>\n

According to him, it was standard practice that MPs, like other categories of people of some standing, when arrested, were given a bail of self-recognizance.<\/p>\n

But in the case of Atta Akyea, he was admitted to a bail of GH\u00a2100,000.00 with one surety.<\/p>\n

He indicated that if a case of misunderstanding bordering on the professional integrity ensued between a client and his lawyer, the General Legal Council was the first port of call, questioning, \u201cWhy does he not have the patience to abide by the civil prosecution? What will be the effect of his prosecution if the civil adjudication turns out that Joseph Adom and J. Adom owe Zoe, Akyea & Co.?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the arrest of Honourable Atta Akyea is not pursuant to selective justice which has become the character of the Mills-Mahama administration, let the Attorney-General who is the Minister for Justice in the Mills-Mahama government, arrest and prosecute the Agbogbloshie murderers; arrest and prosecute Baba Jamal who declared \u201cjihad\u201d which goaded people to cause mayhem and the NDC thugs who caused mayhem during the Akwatia bye-election. Let them arrest and prosecute the NDC castle operative who shot at five persons at Chereponi on the eve of the bye-elections at Chereponi constituency; let them immediately arrest and prosecute Anita De Sosoo and her driver who ran their vehicle over nine persons at Abomosu during the Atiwa bye-elections,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

By Awudu Mahama<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More here: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu addressing the press THE MINORITY New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament yesterday slammed the arrest of their colleague, Samuel Atta Akyea, Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, condemning the Attorney-General for using power capriciously in the matter. Atta Akyea was ambushed and arrested by the police Tuesday morning while in court, reportedly on the orders of the Attorney-General, Martin Amidu, for alleged stealing and dishonest breach of trust<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-460678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nMP\u2019s Arrest Is Patapaa - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/07\/14\/mps-arrest-is-patapaa\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"MP\u2019s Arrest Is Patapaa - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Minority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu addressing the press THE MINORITY New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament yesterday slammed the arrest of their colleague, Samuel Atta Akyea, Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South, condemning the Attorney-General for using power capriciously in the matter. 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