MP, Assin Central, Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong
A group calling itself, Loyalists of Kennedy Agyapong (LOKA) has threatened the Majority in Ghana's Parliament especially the members on the Privileges Committee to campaign and vote massively against them should Kennedy Agyapong suspended from Parliament.
The Privileges Committee chaired by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, has recommended to the plenary to reprimand or suspend the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Hon. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong for the rest of “this Session”.
The Committee arrived at this decision after finding Mr. Agyapong to have been in contempt of Parliament for the remarks he made that “Parliament is cheap” and “Parliament is useless”.
Prior to arriving at this final decision, the Committee was split into two as to which sanction to recommend to the plenary to for consideration.
“The Committee noted the apology rendered by the Member and therefore did not consider expulsion as a sanction to be imposed. The Committee was however in favour of either a reprimand or a suspension. After extensive deliberations, the Committee put the two options to a vote. Out of a total membership of thirty-one (31), twenty (20) Members were present at the time of the voting. Ten (10) Members voted in favour of reprimand as a sanction and ten (10) Members voted in favour of suspension as a sanction. In view of the split ballot, the Committee recommends to the House to determine which of the two sanctions to be imposed on the Hon. Ken Ohene Agyapong”, the report of the Privileges Committee on the breach of privilege and contemptuous comments allegedly made by Hon. Member for Assin Central constituency, Mr. Ken Ohene Agyapong, in part read.
Section 35 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) provides that “Where a Member of Parliament is found by Parliament to be guilty of contempt of Parliament; Parliament may direct that the Member be reprimanded in the Member’s place by the Speaker”.
Section 36(1), (2) (a) and (b) of the Act also provide that:
“Where a Member is found by Parliament to be guilty to be guilty of contempt of Parliament, Parliament may suspend the Member from the service of Parliament for a period not exceeding nine months, whether or not that period extends beyond the end of the Session. Where a Member is suspended from the service of Parliament, the Member (a) shall forthwith leave the precincts of Parliament and shall not enter them again while the suspension continues; (b) shall forfeit the allowances to which the Member would otherwise be entitled as a Member in respect of the period of suspension”.
Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Leader speaking to the media after Parliament adjourned its sitting to go on break, said the House would revisit the issue when it resumes in September.
He debunked claims that Parliament was shielding Mr Agyapong from being sanctioned as recommended by the Privileges Committee because he is one of their “own”.
But in a statement signed by the group's President and copied to GhanaWeb indicated that the Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong is their only hope to salvage them from the denials of their appointees and if Parliament goes on and suspend him from Parliament will force them to vote skirt and blouse in 2020 general elections.
The group hinted that they would be voting for the National Democratic Congress MPs and vote only for President Akufo-Addo in the 2020 general elections.
"We shall go join the National Democratic Congress, support them and add our votes to their MPs in a skirt and blouse manner. We will vote for only Nana Addo", the statement warned.
The statement added, "We want them to know that, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong is our only hope to salvage us from the denials of our MPs, DCEs and other appointees, so therefore, they should becareful how they treat him".
"We loyalists of Kennedy Agyapong, want to tell the majority that, they should not undermine us. They should not try to take our foods from our mouth, because we won't allow that to happen at all", the group lamented.
The group said the Parliament can't remove a corrupt crusader from the House and asked is it that Kennedy Agyapong is exposing corrupt deals in this country that is why they want to remove him Parliament House?
"It saddens that, even Ayariga is walking free after making a criminal allegations against parliament and yet you want to suspend Kennedy? Someone who at all times, exposed corrupt people in the country?", the statement emphasized.
The group has also threatened to hit the streets to demonstrate against the Majority and picket Parliament House should Kennedy Agyapong suspended from Parliament and opined that they will not tolerate any action to remove their bread winner, Kennedy Agyapong from Parliament.
"We want to end by saying, we won't tolerate any action to remove our boss from Parliament or even suspend him. No wonder Manasseh said " The most deadly political enemies are found in their party itself not the party of their opponents". Suspend or remove him and face our wrath. Soon, you will hear from us. Peace!", the statement added.
Below is the full statement
FOR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
PRESS RELEASE BY LOYALISTS OF KENNEDY AGYAPONG (LOKA)
"WE WILL MAKE SURE, MAJORITY MEMBERS ON THE PRIVILEGES COMMITTEE ALL LOSE THEIR PRIMARIES OR SEATS, IF KENNEDY AGYAPONG IS SUSPENDED"
Today has been one of the saddest in the lives of the youth of the New Patriotic Party.
Today, our own leaders are on the verge of breaking our hearts and destroying the fortunes of the party. We just hope, all the hullabaloo that is circulating in the media is false! We just hope, Parliament will never try suspending Hon. Kennedy Agyapong than to remove him.
We want the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo, leaders of the party, national executives and all stakeholders to note that, we have thousands of members in all the 275 constituencies.
We want them to know that, Hon. Kennedy Agyapong is our only hope to salvage us from the denials of our MPs, DCEs and other appointees, so therefore, they should becareful how they treat him.
We want to state the following if Hon. Kennedy Agyapong is suspended or removed from parliament.
1. We will canvass our members and and resources to make all majority members on the privileges committee lose their primaries or their seats
2. We shall go join the National Democratic Congress, support them and add our votes to their MPs in a skirt and blouse manner. We will vote for only Nana Addo.
3. We shall stage a nationwide demonstration inviting all our members across the country and picket parliament and the flagstaff house
We loyalists of Kennedy Agyapong, want to tell the majority that, they should not undermine us. They should not try to take our foods from our mouth, because we won't allow that to happen at all.
It's a threat to the survival of NPP youths when the only person that supports us and is rallying a nationwide drive to employ the youths, will be treated this way.
It saddens that, even Ayariga is walking free after making a criminal allegations against parliament and yet you want to suspend Kennedy? Someone who at all times, exposed corrupt people in the country?
We want to end by saying, we won't tolerate any action to remove our boss from Parliament or even suspend him. No wonder Manasseh said " The most deadly political enemies are found in their party itself not the party of their opponents". Suspend or remove him and face our wrath. Soon, you will hear from us. Peace!
Long live Loyals!
Long live NPP!
Long live Ghana!
Signed!
Benjamin Gyewu-Appiah
Spokesperson to Hon. Kennedy Agyapong/President of Loyalists of Kennedy Agyapong
Tel: 0207382308
