Minority Chief Whip, Muntaka Mubarak has condemned the raiding of the home of former Minister of Power, John Jinapor by some security operatives.
“To just run into their homes with guns…. Some of them have young ones… What kind of impression are you creating? I do not think that is right,” Mr. Muntaka said on Eyewitness News.
Two of the police men effecting the raid were reported to have been armed with AK 47 assault rifles. They were in search of documents related to the controversial AMERI contract.
Mr. Jinapor, the MP for Yapei Kusawgu, was on his way to Parliament when he was detained and held for about two hours.
Member of Parliament for Kpandai, Matthew Nyindam sided with Mr. Muntaka’s position , saying Members of Parliament should be accorded some respect.
“If you look at the 1992 constitution, it gives Members of Parliament some privileges and immunities. Not that we are too special and for that matter we are better than any other Ghanaian but ..no Member of Parliament can commit a crime and run. If someone does something wrong and the law has to deal with anyone there are procedures otherwise we will be dragging the name of Parliament into the gutters.
“The information we got was that their houses were vandalised and some of us thought that as a house this is not the time to be looking at politics. We need to respect parliamentarians and ensure that privileges that are accorded them are followed but that notwithstanding if a Members of Parliament is found culpable , he or she will be dealt with.”
This raid follows a similar one involving former Minister for Power, Kwabena Donkor, who had his home subjected to a thorough search by personnel from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Monday morning.
In Dr. Donkor’s case, the CID was searching for evidence implicating the former minister in financial loss to the State, as a result of his involvement in the AMERI deal.
Police raid on my home traumatized my kids – John Jinapor
Meanwhile Mr. Jinapor has indicated that the development has left his children traumatized.
Speaking after the incident, Mr. Jinapor narrated to Citi News that when he was about to leave home for Parliament, “five policemen, two of them armed with AK 47s, accosted me and indicated that they had a search warrant from the court to look for documents in relation to AMERI.”
He noted that he had a CCTV camera surveilling his home “that records both audio and video so if need be, I will get the guys who did the installation to extract that clip… To come to my house with all those weapons and put my children in the state of trauma, it leaves much to be desired.”
In a related development, the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye has summoned top national security officers to a meeting over the recent raids on the homes of some former government officials.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
