The National Democratic Congress (NDC) members in Parliament have accused the Kufuor administration of attempting to subjugate Parliament under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, an arm of the executive. Besides, they have accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of intimidating them.
Parliamentary Minority Leader, Alban Bagbin, who leveled these charges against the government in an interview Friday morning, said the NPP has been subjecting the NDC to a series of intimidatory practices since it assumed office.
The controversial former Deputy Minister of Defence, Dr. Tony Aidoo, corroborated Bagbin's accusations yesterday on GTV's Breakfast Show when he said the NPP has made political intimidation a national policy.
Bagbin told the Chronicle that four NDC MPs - Ken Dzirasah, Edward Salia, Ato Quarshie and Kosi Kedem - have fallen victim to NPP machinations against the NDC in the last six months.
Dzirasah is the MP for South Tongu and Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, while Kedem, Salia and Quarshie represent Hohoe South, Jirapa, and Komenda/Edina/ Eguafo/ Abrem (KEEA) constituencies respectively.
The Minority Leader said all four MPs have been stopped at various times at the airport when they attempted to board flights through the VIP lounge on trips outside Ghana that had been approved by Parliament.
He said the MPs had their passports withheld for several minutes without explanation and were only allowed to board their flights upon approval by the government.
"They were delayed and other people served. When they persisted to know from the immigration officers the reasons for being treated that way, they were not offered explanations. They were later requested to produce permits that allow them the use of the lounge. They were also told that their traveling and use of the lounge had to be approved by a higher authority."
Continuing, Bagbin said the minority later learnt that the higher authority in question is at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"How can this be? Parliament as an institution is not under Foreign Affairs. If we are going to subjugate a whole arm of government under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then we better forget the notion of separation of powers in the Constitution"
He said, "if the NPP government does not want the NDC members traveling on Parliament-approved trips to use the VIP lounge, why don't they inform the House so that we save ourselves the embarrassment they subject us to."
The VIP lounge is usually reserved for diplomats, heads of the security agencies, departmental heads of various institutions and MPs.
It is different from the VVIP lounge, which is reserved for use by the President and leaders of the other arms of government.
Continuing, Bagbin said the minority group have petitioned Parliament over the experiences of their four colleagues, but are still waiting for a response from Speaker Peter Ala Adjetey.
Bagbin claimed that despite all its perceived faults, the Rawlings' regime never treated members of the former opposition NPP this way on issues relating to the VIP lounge. "We even allowed Kufuor the use of the VIP lounge."
He said because of the experiences of the others, other members of the minority and former Vice President Evans Atta Mills have shied away from using the VIP lounge.
Bagbin also criticised the selection of cases that go before the Fast Track Court, saying the selection process has not been transparent. Several attempts since Monday to speak to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mustapha Ali Idris, or any of the directors of the ministry to get their side of the story have failed. The Secretary to the Deputy Minister, Mr. S. Quarshie, finally left a message late yesterday for the Chronicle to contact the Minister in charge of Presidential Affairs, Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, on the issue.
Chronicle could not reach Jake by press time last night.
