MP for Madina, Mr Francis Xavier Sosu, has said he will cite two police chiefs for contempt of Parliament for disrupting the discharge of his mandate during a lawful demonstration on Monday morning.
The demonstration was to highlight the deplorable state of the roads in the constituency and push the government to fix them.
According to the MP, while leading his constituents for the demonstration, two police chiefs ordered their men to arrest him for no apparent reason.
Mr Francis Xavier Sosu told Joy News on Monday afternoon that during a melee that ensued when his constituents whisked him away to prevent the police from arresting him, his car was damaged.
“The police destroyed and damaged part of my car. So, I intend to cite the police for contempt of Parliament. I will cite the Regional Operations Director, together with the Adentan Municipal Commander. They were supposed to ensure that these things to not happen, rather they were instructing their personnel to get me arrested,” he lamented.
Protesters burned tyres and blocked roads during the demonstration.
He insists that leading his constituents on the demonstration qualifies as a parliamentary duty.
"What is my Parliamentary duty? I am supposed to represent the people, I am the voice of the people. The pain of the people is my pain. The worry of the people is my worry. [The constituents] have planned long ago by themselves to do all kinds of acts that would caused more problems...but I always told them, 'wait for us to lawfully demonstrate'", he justified.
In his view, police acted unlawfully when they tried to arrest him because the protest was lawful.
He said the police were duly notified weeks ahead of the demonstration.
“Today’s protest was a very peaceful one…and the anger of the people was clearly expressed in a manner they felt was the best to do. That should send a clear signal to the government that the people on the ground are really frustrated about the deplorable state of their roads.
“I am looking forward to the government taking action to make sure something is done about those roads,” said.
At least ten youth leaders who took part in the demonstration have been arrested and are in police custody, but Mr Sosu, who is also a lawyer, has said steps have been initiated to free them.