TIG Post

Tag: Security of MPs

  • Scrap MPs security allowances Prof. Azar to government

    US-based Ghanaian legal practitioner, Professor Kwaku Asare is calling for an immediate halt in the payment of security allowances given to Members of Parliament (MPs).

    This comes after the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery directed the Inspector General of Police(IGP) James Oppong Boanuh to deploy 200 police officers to serve as guards to Members of Parliament till the end of the year following the killing of the Member of Parliament for Mfantseman constituency, Ekow Hayford.

    Speaking to Citi News, Prof. Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Prof. Azar said the state is not justified in paying the said amount once it is providing security to the MPs.

    “They were given 10% of their basic salary because they had no police protection. Some MPs who double as ministers had police protection even before this conversation sprung up. For those who had no police protection, it was approved that they get 10% of their basic salary, which is GHS2,000 a month to hire their own security.”

    “For them to have police protection and keep receiving the allowance is deceptive, unethical, and unlawful,” he added.

    200 police officers deployed to guard MPs

    The Ministry of Interior has deployed 200 police officers to serve as guards to Members of Parliament (MPs) till the end of the year.

    The officers will operate under the Parliamentary Protection Unit.

    The sector minister told members of the Parliamentary Press Corps after an in-camera session with MPs that under the new arrangement every MP will be entitled to a police officer as a bodyguard.

    He also disclosed that plans are underway to provide 800 additional police officers to protect the homes of the MPs.

    Source: citinewsroom

  • Protect all Ghanaians, not only MPs Martin Kpebu

    A constitutional lawyer, Martin Kpebu has asked the state to scale up security for the general populace and not Members of Parliament (MPs) alone.

    Mr Kpedu told Abena Tabi on the Key Point programme on TV3 Saturday October 17 that all lives matter in the country hence, the need to provide security for all.

    His comments follow a assurance given by the Interior Minister Ambrose Dery that some 800 police personnel would be deployed to provide security for MPs at home at all times following the gruesome murder of the lawmaker for Mfantseman Constituency Ekow Quansah Hayford.

    Mr Dery said another 200 police personnel would be deployed to the Parliamentary Protection Unit to serve as bodyguards for Members of Parliament (MPs) from October to the end of 2020.

    “Subsequently, we should have 800 police added so that each Member of Parliament will also have security at home in the day and night,” he stated.

    There have been concerns among a section of the Ghanaian public that the state is paying too much attention to the security needs of the lawmakers whereas the general security of the country is not the best following the killings of other important personalities such as law Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh.

    Sharing his perspectives on this development, Mr Martin Kpebu noted that at the moment Ghana does not have enough police officers therefore, dedicating 800 officers to cater for MPs alone will create problems for the security of the country.

    He further stated that if the security of the general populace has been better there will not have been a need to give preferential treatment to MPs in relation to their security. To that end, he said the attention must be tilted towards strengthening security of the entire country.

    “If we are to increase security in the general population there will be no need for heavy personal security for the MP”.

    “It is because the Police numbers are down, totally below the required standards that is why you have this,” he said.

    He added “So if you increase security for the general populace it will be a less need for the personal heavy security. Let us do that one first because all lives matter.”

    Source: 3 News

  • Police protection for MPs wrong Bureau of Public Safety

    The Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) has criticised government over its decision to provide Member (members) of Parliament with armed police guards.

    According to BPS, the decision will impact on how security services in the country execute their duties.

    It noted with concern that the practise will expose the vulnerable in society since the security agencies will focus on a privilege few instead of the masses.

    Though it fell short of describing (the move as short-sighted) as a short-sighted move, BPS said that the decision sends a wrong message to the populace.

    The Executive Director of BPS, Nana Yaw Akwada told Citi News that “the commitment he [Ambrose Dery] has made actually reduces national security which aims at providing security for the general population and offering such security to politicians and men of power.”

    “By so doing he has left the security of the ordinary Ghanaian to his vulnerable state. This is appalling, offensive, indescent (indecent). This single decision sends a wrong signal to the many lives which have been lost a (in) similar fashion,” he said.

    On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, Interior Minister Ambrose Dery announced that 200 police officers will be despatched to guard MPs till next year. The officers according to Ambrose Dery will operate under the Parliamentary Protection Unit.

    “Due to the retooling of the security agencies by President Akufo-Addo, the country has more security agencies and security personnel available. So, we have proposed that, between now and the end of the year, we are going to provide an additional 200 police personnel to be part of the parliamentary protection unit. We are making this arrangement to ensure that the unit attains the status of divisional police command to take care of the Members of Parliament as bodyguards.”

    It comes on the back of calls by MPs for improved protection following the murder of Mfantseman MP Ekow Quansah Hayford.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • MPs to get police bodyguards

    Mr Ambrose Dery, the Minister of the Interior, has announced the deployment of additional 200 police personnel to the Parliamentary Protection Unit to serve as personal bodyguards to Members of Parliament (MPs).

    He said the 200 officers would be distributed to MPs who did not have any form of police protection.

    Mr Dery announced the intended protection of MPs at a joint press briefing in Parliament by Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu after the Interior Minister had a closed-door meeting with the House.

    The Speaker, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, had invited the Minister to brief members on Tuesday on the murder of Ekow Quansah Hayford, MP for Mfantseman, and measures taken to provide security for MPs.

    The MP was reportedly killed by unknown assailants on the Abeadze DominaseAbeadze DuadziMankessim road in the Central Region, on his way back from a campaign trip in the early hours of Friday, October, 2020.

    Mr Dery indicated that he had also contacted the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to carry through a directive from President Nana Akufo-Addo to look out for the murderers.

    “The approval to deploy the personnel should be immediate,” Mr Dery stressed.

    He said during the closed-door interaction it was proposed that between now and the end of the year an extra 200 police personnel would have to be added to the Parliamentary Protection Unit to attain the status of a Divisional Command that would take care of MPs as bodyguards.

    “What we have proposed is that between now and at the end of the year, we are going to provide additional 200 police personnel to be part of the Parliamentary Protection Unit, making it, therefore, attain the status of a Divisional Command that will take care of Members of Parliament as bodyguards,” Mr Derry said.

    However: “Ideally we need to have about 800 additional police so that MPs could get police at home, day and night as done for judges and Ministers of State.”

    Mr Dery said a special team from the Homicide Unit of the Ghana Police Service was deployed to the Central Region, and the crime scene finger prints had been taken but no arrests yet.

    He explained that providing security for MPs had always been the principle since 1992, and the protection for MPs was part of the general national security architecture, which was being taken care of by a number of strategies put in place.

    “The truth on the ground is that the extent of those strategies has been limited,” Mr Dery said.

    Source: GNA