Mahama Ayariga
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central in the Upper East Region on Tuesday ran to the Speaker of Parliament to seek refuge after a high court ordered him to appear before it at 1 pm.
The NDC MP wanted the Speaker, Prof Mike Oquaye, to invoke the constitutional immunity as enshrined in Articles 117, 118 and 122 of the 1992 Constitution which protect MPs in the course of discharging their parliamentary duties.
Mr. Ayariga was hauled to court by the Special Prosecutor, Martin ABK Amidu, over allegations of tax evasion.
He has also been accused of using parliamentary privileges to import three Toyota V8 vehicles into the country.
In Parliament on Tuesday, the Bawku Central MP pleaded with the Speaker to give a certification to the court in accordance with Article 118 (2) to inform the judge that he (Ayariga) per Articles 117, 118 and 122 cannot be in court when Parliament is in session but can only be available when Parliament is not in session.
The MP said he was not seeking immunity to avoid court.
“Mr. Speaker, I am a law-abiding citizen and a Member of Parliament. I am ready to go to court at any time but I am waiting for your guidance as the custodian of this House in relation to Article 122 because it’s clear in Article 122 that I cannot be forced to go to court when I am performing my duty as a Member of Parliament.”
Earlier, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, called on members of the public and state institutions to respect privileges of lawmakers.
He said that it’s unacceptable for the court to harass an MP to appear before it when he is discharging his lawful duties and that proper standards ought to be set so that immunities and privileges of MPs would be respected by all under the Constitution.
The Speaker, in his ruling, emphasized that immunities and privileges for parliamentarians under the 1992 Constitution give MPs uninterrupted liberty to do business of Parliament.
Prof Oquaye said such privileges are also to safeguard the authority, freedom and dignity of Parliament and therefore it’s incumbent on all to respect such limited immunities and privileges of MPs.
He said specifically that under Article 117, an MP cannot be summoned to court when he or she is preparing to go to Parliament or is in the process of performing his or her duties.
The Speaker, however, said that when Parliament is not sitting or on recess, any MP could be asked to appear before court.
He, therefore, prayed the court that the Bawku Central MP would be available to defend himself in court, adding that the court must ensure that hearings are structured in a way that would not affect his parliamentary duties.
“Hon Ayariga has agreed to appear before the court but I trust that reasonable arrangement will be made by the court in a manner to enable him to effectively represent the good people of Bawku Central and I hope the court will take that into consideration,” he added.