The Minority Leader of Parliament, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, has underscored the need to intensify security and safety in the country.

According to him, even though the country, in its entirety, must be protected, importance must be attached to parliamentarians because their job puts them at higher risk.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Friday, 9 October 2020, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South Constituency indicated that the gruesome murder of Mfantseman MP Ekow Hayford, is “a wake-up call that this Parliament, under your leadership [The Speaker] must elevate the security of Members of Parliament as a primary matter of concern.”

“It happened to J.B. Danquah-Adu but the perpetrators have not been identified.

“They have not been punished but Mr Speaker, it raises an issue that Members of Parliament, we are our own enemies.

“There's public distrust".

“Sometimes, there's even public outrage”, he said.

“We've suffered digital attacks. We've suffered verbal attacks but not deadly attacks, not one that results in death,” he said.

He, therefore, stressed the need for the appropriate agencies to work toward beefing up security and the safety of parliamentarians and the whole country at large.

“We are asking for the security and safety of every Ghanaian. We're only additionally asking that, given the risk of the job we do, we are given self-protection and personal protection. That must be done by the Inspector-General of Police and the Minister for the interior,” he added.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo have called for swift investigations into the murder of the MP.

In a communiqué to Parliament read by Speaker Prof Mike Oquaye on Friday, 9 October 2020, the President said: “It’s a very sad day for all of us and I want to assure you, Mr Speaker and Members of the House that every effort will be made by the law enforcement agencies to apprehend, quickly, the perpetrators of this heinous crime”.

“I want to reassure you further that the government will continue to take and intensify all appropriate measures to guarantee the safety of Members and citizens of our country as we all go about our lawful duties, especially during this period of democratic [accountability]".

“May God bless the members of parliament and us all and may God bless our homeland Ghana and make us great and strong”, the President noted.

The governing New Patriotic Party lawmaker was shot dead by armed men along the Abeadze Dominase-Abeadze Duadzi-Mankessim road on Friday dawn.

The late MP of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) was returning from a campaign trip at Dominase to his residence at Mankessim.