Court issues warrant for the arrest of Madina MP

The Kaneshie District Court has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Francis-Xavier Sosu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Madina Constituency.

This would be the third-time the MP failed to show up in court.

On November 8, 2021, the Court adjourned the case involving the Member of Parliament because it had received a letter from Speaker Alban Bagbin, indicating that Mr. Sosu was out of the country on Parliamentary duties.

On the second date that the court met, (November 16), the Speaker again indicated that the MP was still on Parliamentary duty in the US.

During court proceedings today, the Prosecutor, ASP Sylvester Asare, told the court that it was clear that for such a criminal matter, the court had the discretion to issue a warrant for the arrest of the MP.

“You have so many powers, and nobody can undermine you, and you are the only person who can invoke section 167. This court should not be used to mark register,” ASP Asare said, while urging the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of the MP.

He also insisted that the MP cannot send someone to represent him in a criminal matter.

Mr. Sosu’s lawyer, however, said the MP was involved in work for the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, currently sitting for public hearings on the anti-LGBTQ bill.

The case has further been adjourned to January 12, 2022.

Mr. Sosu was to answer to criminal charges levelled against him by the Ghana Police Service.

The Ghana Police Service had secured a criminal summons for the Madina MP to appear in court on November 8, 2021.

He has been charged with “obstructing public highway and causing damage to public property” after he led a demonstration in his constituency, to protest the bad state of roads.

The MP, after the incident, made an official report to the Speaker of Parliament regarding his attempted arrest by the Ghana Police Service during the said demonstration.

Afterward, the Speaker of Parliament in a letter signed by the Deputy Director of Legal Services of Parliament declined an invitation by the police to release the Madina MP for interrogation on his role in the said demonstration.

Notwithstanding, on Sunday, October 31, 2021, there were reports that two police personnel had attempted for the second time to arrest the MP during his visit to a church in his constituency.

The Police Service however denied the allegation in a statement indicating that any plane clothed Police personnel found on the premises of the church were there for intelligence purposes.

Later in the evening, another statement by the Ghana Police Service conveyed the message of the interdiction of the bodyguard of the Madina MP, Inspector Daniel Agbavor for alleged misconduct.

“He is alleged to have recklessly driven into a crowd after a protest last Monday, October 25, 2021, in the Madina Constituency, directly endangering the lives of the Senior Officers and other civilians,” the statement read in part.