The Africa Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) has called on Members of Parliament to respect the laws they enact while calling for reforms to improve the working relationship between the Judiciary and the Legislature.
According to ACEPA, such reforms would establish clear guidelines on how MPs are served with legal notices and when they are required to appear before the courts.
This call comes in response to a bench warrant issued by the Koforidua High Court for the arrest of Akwatia MP, Ernest Yaw Kumi, over contempt of court.
Reacting to the development, ACEPA’s Executive Director, Rasheed Draman, emphasized that Parliament and the Speaker should have been formally notified.
“Over the years, Parliament has been trying to see how this relationship can be streamlined. Especially, when Parliament and its members can be served and when they can go to court. There needs to be a way such that when Members of Parliament are faulty of the laws that they pass themselves, a mechanism is developed so that the Speaker is informed, the parliamentary administration is informed.”
He also urged MPs to be mindful of their actions and advised the Akwatia MP to present himself to the court.
“This is a lesson to Parliament. We have to be careful, and Members of Parliament have to be careful as well of the kind of precedence that they set. Some actions that they take have the tendency to undermine the institution that they belong to.
“Because today, you might be in the majority and tomorrow you find yourself in the minority. The honorable member should go and answer for whatever the court has for him,” he stated.
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