Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Haruna Iddrisu
Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has chastised Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu for attacking the judiciary following the decision of the Cape Coast High Court that cancelled the 2020 parliamentary election results won by the NDC’s James Gyekye Quayson.
The court presided over by Justice Kwasi Boakye, removed Mr. Quayson from Parliament, after being found to be holding dual citizenship in breach of the 1992 Constitution.
The court found that the Assin North NDC MP was holding both Canadian and Ghanaian citizenship as at the time he was filing to contest the December 2020 general election.
Mr. Annoh-Dompreh, the NPP MP for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, is not happy that Haruna Iddrisu who is the NDC MP for Tamale South, would seek to make disparaging comments about judges when he is supposed to know better.
Haruna Iddrisu, reacting to the verdict of the court, had said specifically that “what is worrying, we don’t want to believe, is that the courts of Ghana have been captured, and that the courts have become a forum being used surreptitiously to tilt the balance of power.”
He continued among other things that, “We are equaled – 137: 137. What is happening is that the courts now are being used to tilt the balance of power and to weaken the time tested historical notion of checks and balances.”
Annoh-Dompreh, incensed by Haruna Iddrisu’s comment, told DAILY GUIDE in Nsawam over the weekend that the Minority Leader and his NDC’s flagrant disrespect for the judiciary cannot go on.
“Ordinarily, we would not have made any comment, but for what the Minority Leader said, we need to correct these things and as we are engaging in social engineering as a country, some of these things should be dealt with,” he stated.
He said, “Hon. Haruna Iddrisu claiming the decision is influenced by the Executive is the most dangerous statement to come from him. How on earth will somebody imagine the Executive is manipulating the courts?”
“We have built our country to respect separation of powers and the Hon Minority Leader is part of the legislative arm of government and the court is part of the judiciary.
“We should stop talking against judges. Haruna Iddrisu should not be making such unguarded statements since he is the leader of the NDC in Parliament,” he pointed out.
He said from the onset, the NDC showed bad leadership as far as the Assin North issue was concerned, and have now turned around trying to blackmail everybody including the judiciary.
“If they are saying they will not cooperate in Parliament because of the ruling, they should know that they are not in Parliament for their personal interests but rather they are there representing their constituents who believed and voted for them to be there and Ghanaians have certain expectations that must be delivered,” he disclosed.
He added that “so if the government decides to implement policies to meet the welfare needs of Ghanaians and as an MP you claim you will not cooperate, then you have no business been in Parliament. Haruna Iddrisu for making that singular statement has no business been in Parliament.”
Mr. Annoh-Dompreah said “we are going to match them boot for boot in making sure that government delivers to Ghanaians, we will not allow the Minority to stop us. These threats and blackmail won’t stand, we are tired of them and we telling them that we are not afraid of them. The mandate given to them emanated from the people of this country, they didn’t come to Parliament by themselves and so if they decide not to work in the interest of the Ghanaian people then they should vacate their seats for us to know Parliament has no Minority.”
,From Daniel Bampoe, Nsawam