John Peter Amewu booed by NDC MPs, called a thief

John Peter Amewu, the Member of Parliament-elect for Hohoe Constituency, was booed by his colleague NDC MPs-elect in Parliament prior to the swearing-in ceremony and inauguration of the 8th Parliament of the Fourth Republic.

John Peter Amewu was called a thief by his colleagues when he walked to the NDC side of the house to express his displeasure for their hurriedly occupying the Majority side of the house of Parliament.

The out-going Energy Minister approached Haruna Iddrisu, the outgoing Minority Leader and in an attempt to exchange pleasantries with him, the NDC MPs started shouting in chorus “thief, thief, thief”.

The MPs then started clapping and drumming and saying in Twi “thief, thief, thief”.

John Peter Amewu was quickly dragged to his seat by some of his colleagues.

The MP-elect was the subject of litigation by some residents of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL) who were disallowed from voting in the just-ended Hohoe parliamentary elections, arguing that their fundamental human rights had been breached, and hence Amewu should be restrained from representing the constituency of which they are part under CI 95 which has not yet been amended as per a Supreme Court order.

A 10-day injunction was secured against John Peter Amewu from presenting himself as MP-elect.

Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Deputy Attorney General then filed an application at the Supreme Court urging it to restrain the Ho High Court from hearing the matter.

The Supreme Court in a unanimous decision ruled that the Ho High Court erred when it granted an injunction against John Peter Amewu as Hohoe MP-elect. The five-member Parliament, however, ruled that the Ho High Court should go ahead and hear the substantive matter of fundamental human rights.