A presidential staffer, Miracles Dennis Aboagye, has slammed National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs for boycotting parliamentary proceedings to accompany the Assin North MP, James Gyakye Quayson, during his daily trial.
The Minority caucus in solidarity accompanied Mr. Quayson to court on Thursday, July 6, after the Minority Leader, Ato Cassiel Forson, declared their intent to boycott Parliament until the case is over.
However, during an interview on the Big Issue on Citi TV hosted by Selorm Adonoo, Miracles described the move as needless and suggested that the MPs use the same energy to support their constituents who are languishing in police cells across the country.
He observed that many people have been detained for years without their cases being called in court to determine their fate.
The presidential staffer blasted the MPs for neglecting their constituents who are facing court cases and emphasized that their decision to support Quayson is in bad faith.
He feared that chaos would ensue if other groups decided to take a similar stance and described as unreasonable the manner in which the NDC MPs are showing their support to Quayson.
“Ato Forson has been in court all this while, and all of a sudden, they have added Gyakye Quayson, and everybody to it and said because of that they are not going to Parliament. They are overdoing politics, if Quayson, Ato Forson, former Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Collins Dauda’s case are being held once every week on the same day, will all of them be there? What if there’s a case involving a nurse, doctor or teacher, or soldier and the various associations also decide to be in court? You can imagine the chaos if every group decides to support their own.”
He further asked, “Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why are we stampeding the court? Why are we trying to pressure the court? You are saying that until the case is withdrawn from court, you are not going to do your work. And that every day that he’s in court, you are going to be there. Think about this, what has this got to do with MPs boycotting Parliament? Allow the court to work. Use the same energy to boycott Parliament to support your constituents in police custody. The manner in which they are showing support is unreasonable. Their decision to boycott Parliament and support Quayson is in bad faith. I see a lot of hypocrisy and bad faith in the action of the Minority because it is one of their own”.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader, also appeared in court on Thursday.
Dr Ato Forson is currently facing a criminal case related to an alleged financial loss of €2.37 million to the state. The case revolves around a deal to purchase 200 ambulances between 2014 and 2016.
On the other hand, James Gyakye Quayson is undergoing trial at the High Court in Accra for charges of forgery and perjury.
