The Member of Parliament (MP) for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has criticized a directive by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to have all police bodyguards of MPs surrender their weapons to the nearest police station in Assin North ahead of the by-election.
The IGP ordered on Monday, June 26, 2023, that they are not to carry such rifles with them.
The directive comes after a crunch meeting between the leadership of the Ghana Police Service and the political parties as well as the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC).
The IGP, who led the police at the meeting, issued the directive to the bodyguards immediately afterward, asking them to submit the weapons to the armourer of the nearest police station within the Assin North Constituency.
Dafeamekpor reacting to the IGP’s directive said the IGP had no right to give such a directive, as it was unconstitutional.
Speaking to the press in Assin North, he stated that “Bodyguards attached to MPs are part of their conditions of service. The IGP has no power to vary the conditions of service of a sitting MP in the same way he has no power to vary the conditions of service of a superior court judge in this republic.
“So for him to issue a statement and say that Police bodyguards of MPs should surrender their weapons to the nearest Police Station is unlawful and unconstitutional.”
He said the directive was an attempt to intimidate and harass MPs, and he called on the IGP to withdraw it immediately.
Three political parties – New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) – have presented candidates to battle it out for the Assin North Parliamentary seat today, Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
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