Two days after The New Crusading Guide had published a story to the effect that a request by the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to Parliament for the release of Mr Richard Anane and Dr Akoto Osei for their caution statements on the Ghana International Airlines (GIA) probe saga had seriously backfired because the laid down procedure was not followed, and that development had created a �temporal roadblock� in the way of the Attorney-General�s quest to prosecute Dr Anane and Dr Akoto Osei on a variety of charges at the courts, the CID outfit has once again missed the mark.
In a desperate attempt to get Dr Akoto Osei � MP for Old Tafo and former Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Planning � to write his caution statement in connection with alleged malfeasance at the GIAL, a letter was sent to him on March 12, 2010 inviting him to the CID Headquarters �for further discussions.� Surprisingly, a similar letter was separately written to the Speaker of Parliament.
The letter, which should have been exclusively and directly addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, stated, �You are kindly requested to appear before the Committee on Wednesday 17/3/2010 at 1400 hours at the CID Headquarters (12th floor) for further discussions.� It was signed by J.T. Dogbeda, Deputy Director �General/CID on behalf of the Director-General.
The New Crusading Guide gathered from a source at Parliament that when the letter, a copy of which was sent to the Speaker, reached the recipients, the First Deputy Speaker, Hon Doe Adjaho upon the direction of the Speaker, personally went to the CID and asked them to address the request exclusively to the Speaker � the only person who could release the MP.
The Police CID Boss was entreated to refer to the contents of the March 10, 2010 letter from the Clerk of Parliament and react accordingly; meaning no letters of invitation should be directed at individual Members of Parliament.
Readers will recall that The New Crusading Guide stated that a letter in response to the CID boss� earlier one, dated March 10, 2010 and signed by Mr Ebenezer Ahumah Djietor, Principal Assistant Clerk, Legal (for the Clerk to Parliament) � which was intercepted by The Crusading Guide � read in part, �FIRST OF ALL, I RESPECTFULLY WISH TO STATE THAT THE REQUEST IS MISPLACED AS THE CLERK TO PARLIAMENT HAS NO CONSTITUTIONAL, LEGAL OR ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITY OVER HON. MEMBERS.�
It continued that �per Article 118(2) of the 1992 Constitution, if at all, it is only the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament who may exercise any such authority.� The Principal Assistant Clerk quoted the provision under the Article thus, �The certificate of the Speaker that a Member or the Clerk is attending the proceedings of Parliament is conclusive evidence of attendance at Parliament.�
According to the letter, the Constitution also provides in Articles 117 as follows, �Civil or criminal process coming from any court or place out of Parliament shall not be served on, or executed in relation to, the Speaker or a Member or the Clerk to Parliament while he is on his way to, attending at or returning from, any proceedings of Parliament.�
The missive stated categorically, �PLEASE BE ACCORDINGLY INFORMED THAT THE CLERK IS UNABLE TO BRING YOUR REQUEST TO THE ATTENTION OF THE TWO(2) HON. MEMBERS AS THE HOUSE IS IN SESSION AND SITTING IS OFTEN EXTENDED BEYOND THE NORMAL SITTING HOURS AFTER WHICH SOME COMMITEES OF THE HOUSE. ALSO MEET. BARRING THE ABOVE CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITAIONS, YOU MAY WISH TO HAVE THE PROCESS SERVED ON THE TWO(2) HON. MEMBERS IN ANOTHER MANNER,� the letter concluded.
Records available to The New Crusading Guide, indicate that in a similar case where Hon. Dan Abodakpi � then Member of Parliament � was needed by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for investigations into the formation of a company by name Gateway Services Ltd., the proper procedure was followed. Mr T.A. Codjoe, the then Deputy Executive Director, SFO, in a letter dated August 9, 2001, requested the Speaker of Parliament at the time to release Dan Abodakpi to assist the SFO�s investigators in the exercise.
Acknowledging receipt of the said letter, the then Acting Clerk of Parliament, Mr K.E.K. Tachie, asserted that �the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament is currently out of the country on official assignment and is expected to return to the country on the 20th of August, 2001.�
In a follow-up letter dated August 22, 2001, Mr Tachie informed the Deputy Executive Director of the SFO that the Hon. Speaker had returned to the country from his official assignment abroad �AND HAS INSTRUCTED ME TO SAY, IN REPLY TO YOUR REQUEST, THAT THE HON. MEMBER FOR KETA, MR DAN ABODAKPI MAY BE RELEASED TO ASSIST YOU IN YOUR INVESTIGATION INTO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GATEWAY SERVICES LTD.�
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