James Agalga is MP for Builsa North
• Bodyguard for the Madina MP was recently interdicted
• He is accused of reckless driving and endangering lives
• The MP is currently without a guard and exposed to danger according to a colleague
Member of Parliament for Builsa North, James Agalga, has accused the Ghana Police Service of exposing the MP for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, to danger after withdrawing his official bodyguard last weekend.
Police announced in an October 31, 2021 statement that Inspector Daniel Agbavor had been interdicted pending an investigation into alleged misconduct.
The statement signed by ACP Kwesi Ofori, Director-General of Public Affairs of the Service said, “Inspector Daniel Agbavor, has been interdicted for alleged misconduct.”
The statement continued: “He is alleged to have recklessly driven into a crowd after a protest last Monday, 25th October 2021, in the Madina Constituency, directly endangering the lives of two Senior Officers and other civilians.”
“The Parliamentary Protection Unit has been tasked to assign a new guard to the MP,” the statement concluded.
But for Agalga, he is worried that the Police chose to withdraw the bodyguard without replacing him in the first place but more worrying for him was the fact that the withdrawal was done publicly.
“Is it because he is having problems with the police which has resulted in an attempt to arrest him which has resulted in the withdrawal of his personal bodyguard? Should the Police act in the manner in which they have acted, because as we speak now, Sosu is without a bodyguard,” he said on Citi TV last Tuesday.
He stressed that it was because of attacks on MPs that the Parliament agreed that they be assigned bodyguards who are chosen based on among other things the MP’s preference before they are given special training on VIP protection.
“He was given protection, now you have withdrawn his bodyguard and made it public. They’ve withdrawn his bodyguard and made it public, have they not exposed Sosu to possible attacks by criminals?
“And should anything happen to Sosu won’t that be the height of irresponsibility and unprofessional behaviour on the part of the Police?
“They could have done this in a better way… look for a replacement first before the interdiction. Now they have exposed Sosu, he is at the mercy of criminals, the very reason he was assigned a bodyguard. And they did this publicly, so everybody now knows that Sosu roams without a bodyguard, he has no protection,” Agalga stressed.
In the course of the interview, he also said he had cause to believe that the Inspector-General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare had allowed himself to be manipulated by some politicians averring that the IGP had recorded his first major gaffe with his tussle with Parliament.
He said, while he personally liked the person and professionalism of Dampare, he is clear in his mind that the IGP is being overzealous with his current actions.