Madina MP Francis Xavier-Sosu appears in parliament after swerving court

He was spotted in the Chambers after he failed to honour a criminal summons filed against him by the Ghana Police Service.

The MP was summoned by the court following several failed attempts by the police to arrest him for allegedly breaching the public order law when he led his residents and motorists in his constituency to protest over deplorable roads in the area in October 25, 2021.

A letter signed by a Deputy Clerk of Parliament, Eric Owusu Mensah, and addressed to the Registrar of the Kaneshie District Court in response to a hearing notice noted that the MP was still on Parliamentary duty, and out of the jurisdiction.

The letter as read by the Court Clerk on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, stated that "Francis-Xavier Sosu is attending at the proceedings of the 3rd Meeting of the 1st Session of the 8th Parliament which commenced on Tuesday 26th October 2021, and is also currently representing Parliament and the country in a conference in the United States of America."

Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has said the move by the Police Administration to arrest Francis-Xavier Sosu after they approved the demonstration was an obstruction.

Speaking at the Speaker's Breakfast Forum in Kumasi in the Ashanti region on Monday, November 15, 2021, Bagbin described the attempts by the Police to arrest the MP as obstruction.

He said "This public discourse in recent times about the privileges and immunities of MPs, officers of Parliament, and Parliament itself, is not new. Since I became an MP, it has been coming up from time to time, and even now, a number of these things come to my desk, and we have processed them well. You are all aware a number of MPs are before the court, and they are being prosecuted. So, there is nobody saying, MPs or Parliament are above the law no."

He added: "But this particular instance of the Member of Parliament for Madina, I can put my neck on it. That you have no such powers after he had gone through all the processes with you, and you set the date and as well send your men to the procession. He is addressing them then you send a different contingent to go and arrest him while he is talking to his constituents. That is obstruction and Article 122 is very clear on that, which constitutes contempt. How can that be said to be the speaker preventing an MP from being arrested? We cannot tolerate that."