Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin
The Minority Leader, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has accused the National Intelligence Bureau of conniving with the Koforidua High Court to harass the Member of Parliament for Akwatia, Ernest Kumi.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, he alleged that some state security operatives attempted to detain Ernest Kumi.
“A week after the ruling, state security operatives were harassing the Member of Parliament in his constituency, but for the intervention of his constituents. They were armed with pickup vehicles and in fact, they actually pulled a weapon, a pistol on the MP, trying to threaten him to force him into the pickup”, he stated.
He added that such actions undermine the rule of law.
“I think that the NDC government must know that this country is a country of rule of law. And I can assure the government that a question will be filed for the Attorney General to come and answer the circumstances leading to the judiciary in Eastern Region, the High Court in Eastern Region colluding with the National Security Coordinator and for that matter the NIB, to attempt enforcing an order, which order the higher court, the Supreme Court, had already placed on injunction,” he stated.
The Minister of Interior, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, justified attempts to arrest Ernest Yaw Kumi following the issuance of a bench warrant for his arrest for contempt by the Koforidua High Court.
The warrant dated February 19, 2025, was served at the National Investigations Bureau’s (NIB) Eastern Regional Office, through the National Security Coordinator.
On January 3, 2025, the court issued an interim injunction preventing Kumi’s swearing-in.
This followed a lawsuit filed by Henry Boakye-Yiadom, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate and former MP, against the Electoral Commission (EC), Kumi, and the Clerk to Parliament.
The lawsuit challenged the election results, which declared Kumi the winner with 19,269 votes against Boakye-Yiadom’s 17,206 votes.
Despite the injunction, Kumi proceeded with his swearing-in on January 7, 2025. The interior minister stated that the attempted arrest was a lawful execution of the High Court’s warrant for contempt.
However, the move was met with resistance from supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Akwatia.
JKB/AE
Catch up on the mysterious and historic details of Fort Amsterdam in this final part of our Ghana Month Series on People and Places on GhanaWeb TV below:
