RESIDENTS OF Abuakwa South constituency in the Eastern region led by �Friends of Atta Akyea,� have reacted angrily to the arrest of their MP, saying his arrest was an orchestrated attempt to disgrace him and mar his political career.
Samuel Atta Akyea was arrested by police last week on the alleged orders of the Attorney-General
The residents said the �unlawful� arrest has not only brought the MP�s constituency and constituents into disrepute but has also lowered his reputation in minds of right-thinking Ghanaians.
At a press conference held at Kyebi on Tuesday to register their displeasure, friends of the MP and some residents in the constituency said the Attorney-General deliberately caused the arrest knowing very well that article 117 of the 1992 Constitution gives MPs immunity from service of process and arrest.
According to them, Mr. Atta Akyea is a true royal of Kyebi and could have easily been the Okyenhene but now his arrest has brought disgrace to the Ofori Panin stool.
�The press conference by the office of the Attorney-General on Monday to dissociate himself from the arrest of our MP is only an attempt to throw dust into the eyes of the public because after his arrest, the police told him that the AG ordered them to arrest him,� Solomon Adjei, spokesperson for the group said.
The group warned government to completely stay off the civil case which has travelled considerably far at the Commercial Division of the High Court of Justice between the MP who is a lawyer and his client, J. Adom Ltd.
They said the constitution states clearly in Article 117 that �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 of member or the clerk to parliament while on his way to attending at, or returning from any proceedings or Parliament,� and that their MP obtained permission from the Speaker on the day of his arrest to testify at the court in the same case that the police were ordered to arrest him about.
They therefore called on President Mills to sack the Attorney-General, Martin Amidu for blatantly breaching the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana.
�We don�t want the AG and for that matter the government to interfere in this case involving our MP and his client, J. Adom Ltd and the law must be allowed to take its course,� the group said stressing that the sudden arrest of Atta Akyea smacks of political vendetta and selective justice.
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