The Ghana Police Service says it has initiated steps to engage the Clerk to Parliament, the Marshal and the leadership to fashion out a more proactive way of supporting the House in the maintenance of law and order.
This, the Police said, would be done within the confines of the law to ensure the security of MPs while in the Chamber.
A statement signed by the Director-General of the Police Public Affairs Directorate, ACP Kwesi Ofori, said the move follows happenings in the Chamber of Parliament during the 2022 budget debate.
He said, “Some concerned Ghanaians have questioned why the Police did not go into the Chamber to maintain law and order and take action against Members of Parliament who were seen engaged in what looked to many like violent disturbances and scuffles in the Chamber of Parliament.”
“The Ghana Police Service wishes to draw the attention of the general public to the fact that, by Ghana’s constitutional arrangement, security issues within the Chamber of Parliament are the responsibility of the Marshal to Parliament who takes instructions from the Clerk of Parliament on such matters.”
According to him, the legal position is that the Police have no authority to enter the Chamber of Parliament to undertake any law enforcement venture and added, “Any such act will be in contravention of the laws of the country.”
The Marshal and his team of officers, he noted, have to deal with such situations in the Chamber and thereafter refer the matter to the Police for investigations and possible prosecution if the leadership of the House so decides.
The statement assured the Police is committed to its mandate of maintaining law and order but is also mindful not to overstep the limitations imposed on it by law.
Source: Mypublisher24.com