Opinions of Thursday, 6 October 2011

Columnist: Nkrumah-Agyapong, Kwame

Are ministers above the law?

Kobby Acheampong, the Deputy Minister for the Interior, has apparently called for the arrest and detention of seven police officers for lawfully flagging down his (Acheampong's) vehicle for allegedly over-speeding.

In a country where road accidents and highway robberies are frequent occurrences, the least expected from the deputy minister was to show common sense and solidarity with the law and road enforcement officers for enforcing the law and not receiving bribes. Instead, the Deputy Minister was alleged to have flagrantly abused his powers which is typical of the ruling NDC government and its ministers.

Despite claims by the policemen that the minister had gone over the speed limit, Mr Acheampong attended a television program at TV3 but did not address the issue of his alleged offense during the television appearance.

Kobby Acheampong who is known for unruly behaviour recently attacked a female TV presenter on Metro TV's "Good Morning Ghana" in addition to his numerous tribalistic comments and insults. As the deputy minister faces growing calls to step aside once more, Young Nkrumaist Movement and most Ghanaians have known our president to be weak, but surely, this allegation by the police officers cannot be left without proper investigation into Mr Kobby Acheampong's conduct in this matter while the seven police officers are languishing in military police cells.

Young Nkrumaist Movement would like to join the general public who are asking the government to ask Mr Acheampong to temporarily step aside and constitute an independent investigation into the complaint against him.

The question we ought to ask is that, is the government and Ghana police going to review the complaint made by the seven police officers and take a decisive action?



The irony of this case is that, in the same week that the government is reviewing the Legal Aid Scheme Act, 1997 (Act 542) to give improved legal aid services to the poor who cannot afford legal services in the country, one of its ministers is allegedly abusing his powers.



We are watching the government’s move on this issue.



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Kwame Nkrumah-Agyapong

k.n.agyapong@gmail.com