Private legal practitioner Obiri Boahen has asserted that any state intervention on behalf of the Member of Parliament for Asante Akyem North, Mr Kwame Ohene Frimpong, would constitute causing financial loss to the state.
He noted that the legislator was arrested while engaged in a personal business venture rather than an official state assignment.
Consequently, Mr Boahen underscored the necessity for authorities to allow the MP to “carry his own cross”.
The Parliament of Ghana has officially confirmed that it is investigating the detention of the Honourable Member in the Netherlands.
According to a statement released by the Clerk to Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, the MP was intercepted by authorities at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
While the specific grounds for the detention have not yet been made public, the legislative body indicated that it is treating the matter as a high priority. The Right Honourable Speaker, Alban Bagbin, alongside the leadership of the House, is reportedly in direct communication with Ghana’s diplomatic mission in The Hague to ascertain the full details of the incident.
A lawyer based in The Hague has also been engaged to provide legal services for the MP.
However, Mr Boahen maintains that the state has no business providing any form of assistance.
Speaking in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he asserted that the arrest has no connection to the state and that public resources should not be utilised for legal support. He told host Kwabena Agyapong that the MP must be made to “face the music”.
He further argued that the MP’s use of a diplomatic passport has no bearing on the case and should not even be part of the discussion.
He dismissed as ridiculous the suggestion that foreign authorities were obligated to consult the Ghanaian government to secure a release.
“Stop this nonsense of suggesting that the government should have engaged with authorities to release him,” he stated. “Give us a break. If he has been arrested, so be it. Him being an MP has nothing to do with what has happened. He is a person of interest and has been arrested, and so we have to stop this jungle analysis around the arrest.”
Mr Boahen added that other high-profile personalities, including the President of Venezuela, have faced arrest in various contexts.
“Even the President of Venezuela has been arrested and you are talking about a Ghanaian MP. He is not above the law. He has been arrested for suspected wrongdoing and must face the law. It does not matter whether he is a Ghanaian MP or not.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
