We’ll not shield Kennedy Agyapong if Parliament sanctions him – Majority

The Second Deputy Majority Chief Whip, Matthew Nyindam, has said should Parliament decide to sanction Kennedy Agyapong, over his “Parliament is cheap” and “Parliament is useless” comments, the Majority Caucus of which side the Assin Central lawmaker belongs to, will abide by it.

He said the Majority Caucus will not shield Kennedy Agyapong in any way simply for the fact that he is one of their own.

To the Kpandai legislator, the House is committed to dealing with anybody or member who goes against its rules and will therefore stick to any punishment that will be proffered by the Speaker or the Privileges Committee.

“Kennedy is a human being; Kennedy obeys laws, Kennedy respects people; Kennedy thinks he is a crusader who fights for the vulnerable; Kennedy is just like any other person, okay? And that report will be taken. Kennedy can’t run away from anybody. He is a citizen of this nation. Yes, he may have some minors that people may not agree with him but he has positives. He’s served in this chamber for almost eighteen years now. So, he is not just an ordinary person. We are committed to dealing with anybody who will go against our rules. The punishment that will be recommended from the Speaker or the Committee, Kennedy if he thinks strongly he doesn’t like it, he will appeal. There is no way he will say that he will not do what Parliament asks him to do – he is not above the law. He is a human being and we are all before the law”, he noted.

Parliament on Friday, February 8, 2019, was expected to bring finality to the work done by the Privileges Committee when the Assin Central lawmaker appeared before it in the middle of last year over his unguarded comments against the legislature.

However, the House had to reschedule the advertised program to next week as a result of unavailability of the leadership of the House comprising the Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, and the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye.

According to the Second Deputy Majority Whip, due to the nature of the case, it was important for all the leaders to be present before the Committee’s report could be taken.

In July 2018, the Privileges Committee chaired by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, recommended to the plenary to reprimand or suspend Kennedy Agyapong for the rest of “this Session”.

The Committee arrived at that 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 for consideration.

The House was expected to bring finality to the report of the Privileges Committee during the last Meeting of the Second Session. It is however, not clear what caused the delay in considering the report.