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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has assured Parliament the law enforcement agencies would put in all efforts to quickly apprehend the killers of MP for Mfantseman Constituency, Ekow Quansah Hayford.
Government, he pledged, will also intensify all appropriate measures to guarantee the safety of members and citizens of the country as they go about their lawful duties, especially during this time of Democratic accountability.
President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance in a statement to Parliament extending his deepest condolences and that of the state for the unfortunate death of the MP and described the incident as very sad.
“I extend to you and Honourable members of the House my deepest condolences of the news of the gruesome murder of the MP from Mfantseman, Hon Ekow Quansah Hayford.”
“I want to reassure you that government will continue to take and intensify all appropriate measures to guarantee the safety of members and citizens of the country as we all go about our lawful duties, especially during this time of Democratic accountability,” he pledged.
Speaker of the House, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, expressed gratitude to the President but indicated MPs are very concerned about their safety.
He pointed out that it is not every member who is an MP in Accra and stressed that some live very far away, from Aflao to Enchi, and yet they are working in Parliament.
“If their family happens to be in Navrongo should they leave them unattended, especially in a time like this as they work in Accra for the whole nation,” he queried?
According to him, these are questions that have been settled a long time ago by all democracies, and stressed Ghana must seriously settle these issues once and for all to ensure the security of the state and the development of its democracy.
Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, welcomed President Akufo-Addo’s commiserative message but stressed beyond sympathies Members of Parliament demand action.
He expressed disgust at a reported refusal of the Ghana Police Service to grant a request of the Parliamentary Service Board to provide additional permanent protection officers for the leadership.
He said, “This is how we are treated as an institution. The most important organ in any democracy is Parliament.”
He noted that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), even though an institution of the state, falls directly under the executive.
He urged the IGP to therefore seize the matter and act expeditiously and diligently and report back to Parliament.
Mr. Ekow Hayford was shot on his campaign trail by armed robbers on the Abeadze Dominase – Abeadze Daudzi – Mankessim Road when he identified himself as a lawmaker during a robbery.
According to reports, the robbers after discovering he was an MP, accused him of the problems in Ghana and shot him in cold blood.
Frontpageghana.com/Osumanu Al-Hassan
