The National Democratic Congress (NDC) minority caucus in Parliament has condemned the granting of an interim injunction on some exposes on Rev. Victor Kusi Boateng by a court in Accra.
It further condemned the ambushing of Member of Parliament (MP) of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on the precincts of Metro TV on February 3 to serve him with court documents.
A statement signed and issued in Accra yesterday by Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Minority Leader in Parliament, described the granting of the interim injunction as an “abuse of the judiciary by certain undemocratic elements seeking to gag NDC Members of Parliament and prevent us from carrying out our constitutional mandate of oversight.”
It explained that, to grant an interim injunction preventing further publication on a matter of enormous public interest and to Rev. Boateng who allegedly holds double identity, was a palpable constitutional affront.
The statement noted that the legal action against Member of Parliament (MP) of North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was a desperate effort to stifle parliamentary scrutiny and pervert the course of justice.
It said the claim by Rev. Boateng that the continuous publication of his personal information violates his privacy raises legitimate, legal and logical questions about which of his dual identities with his different names, different dates of birth, different TINS, different mothers and different national IDs actually refer to him.
“It is also most shocking that the court will grant an ex parte injunction in a matter of this nature and particularly when incontrovertible court records show that the man who now claims to be Kwabena Adu Gyamfi with an alias as Victor Kusi Boateng only recently obtained judgment from the same judiciary as Victor Kusi Boateng,” the statement added.
It said the appropriate procedure of how MPs were to be served with court documents was through the Speaker of Parliament as upheld by multiple Speakers of Parliament across the political divide through many constitutionally rulings.
”Ambushing an MP with a secret video recording on the premises of a television station after an interview by people ironically claiming to be apostles of the protection of privacy as happened to our distinguished colleague, Okudzeto Ablakwa on the precincts of Metro TV on February 3, 2023 can only be the orchestration of a frustrated and lawless cabal,” the statement noted.
It said it was fast developing into a norm under the current government that Members of Parliament fulfilling their constitutional mandate were vilified, witch-hunted and threatened with imprisonment.
The statement noted that the NDC caucus have full confidence in the patriotic parliamentary oversight qualities with which Mr Ablakwa had pursued the issues on national cathedral and the dual identity scandal.
“Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa can count on our unflinching solidarity, especially during the pendency of that unmeritorious, vexatious and ridiculous Kwabena Adu Gyamfi—Victor Kusi Boateng case.
The Minority Group in Parliament hereby serves notice that we shall not be intimidated or cowed by judicial abuse, tyranny and fascist tactics,” the statement added.
The group, it said, was determined to pursue all aspects of the issues surrounding the National Cathedral project and the related matters of without let or hindrance during this 3rd Session of the 8th Parliament.
BY TIMES REPORTER
