Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Suame, Hon Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, says he is greatly disappointed at the arrest and subsequent charges preferred against Hon Osei Bonsu Amoah, former Deputy Education and Sports Minister in the erstwhile Kufuor administration for his role in the controversial Alfred Woyome GH¢51 million judgment debt scandal.
He describes as ‘laughable’ and ‘senseless’ the charges leveled against his colleague MP, wondering what may have necessitated the decision of the police to prefer those charges against him (Amoah).
The Aburi-Nsawam MP was picked up on Sunday, Feb 19 by the police at his Parakuo Estates residence, near Dome, and was detained at the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters till Monday.
He was subsequently charged with corruption and willfully causing financial loss to the state, in connection with the infamous Woyome scandal and granted a GH¢20million bail bond with two sureties.
Speaking in an interview on Okay FM’s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, the Minority Leader outrightly condemned the arrest of the former deputy minister describing it as unconstitutional and a ridicule of the integrity of the constitution in view of the fact that the NPP MP was still on parliamentary duty and was returning from a Parliamentary Committee meeting at the La Palm Hotel at the time his arrest was effected.
He pointed out that the police’s action is in contravention of Article 117 of the 1992 Constitution which states inter alia that Members of Parliament cannot be arrested on their way to or from Parliament, and accused the police of spying on and monitoring the movements of the NPP MP.
To him, the charges of corruption and willfully causing financial loss leveled against the NPP MP carries no weight and its “laughable”, since it turned out that the cheque given to him (O.B Amoah) was meant for the payment of some plots of land bought from the Kitase chief which the NPP MP facilitated on behalf of Mr Woyome.
“The corruption charge is laughable, where is the corruption if Woyome gave him some cheque which is meant to be a payment for some land about 20 plots Woyome bought at Ketase in Aburi? O.B has never denied that Woyome is his friend and he went with him to check on the land so he (Woyome) gave him the money to be given to the chief, which the chief has confirmed that he received the cheque Woyome sent through O.B Amoah. So where is the corruption especially when EOCO has indicated that Woyome had no contract with the state?” he asked.
Sarcastically, he said, it will not be surprising to even hear that the churches Alfred Woyome gave donations to, have also been arrested and charged with corruption.
He noted that “President Mills in response to the Woyome judgment debt saga at his recent Press conference said he was not irresponsible and criminally minded to order for such payment and since it was Betty Mould Iddrisu who ordered for the payment; can we say she is irresponsible and criminally minded, adding that she is walking about freely whiles innocent people suffer for her mistake”.
Source: GhanaWeb
