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Police storm Jinapor, Ayine residences in search of "missing" AMERI documents

Police storm Jinapor, Ayine residences in search of "missing" AMERI documents

The raids carried out by the police on the homes of three Members of Parliament (MPs) have drawn the ire of Parliament.

This week, the homes of Dr Kwabena Donkor, a former Minister of Power and MP for Pru,  Dr Dominic Ayine, MP for Bolgatanga East, and Mr John Jinapor, a former Deputy Minister of Power and MP for Yapei/Kusawgu, were raided for what the police said were efforts to retrieve documents in connection with the AMERI deal.

At its sitting yesterday, the Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, said he would insist that the three former ministers and sitting MPs  being investigated for their involvement in the AMERI power contract should not be harassed or frustrated by the investigative bodies.

"I will soon call the appropriate authorities to my office and demand that honourable Members of Parliament  involved are handled with appropriate decorum coterminous with their office as honourable members.

"This intervention will demand that no frustration, no harassment is meted out to any honourable MP in a way that will, in any manner, impugn the dignity of any honourable member or the exercise of any member which will make it difficult in terms of their attending the work of this House and representing the good people of the country who have elected the honourable member. So shall it be done," he said.

The Speaker gave the assurance following a statement by the Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, to the effect that the  three MPs were being investigated by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. 

Raids

Alhaji Muntaka said last Monday, the residence of the former Minister of Power and MP for Pru East, Dr Donkor, was raided by the police at dawn in search of documents related to the AMERI contract.

 Yesterday too, he said, the residence of the former Deputy Minister of Power and MP for Yapei/Kusawgu, Mr  Jinapor, and that of the former Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice and MP for Bolgatanga East, Dr Ayine, were raided by the police.

Alhaji Muntaka said on each occasion, five police officers, two armed with AK 47 assault rifle, conducted the search.

He said the MPs were law-abiding citizens and willing to assist the police in their investigations.

However, he said, the worry was the way and manner the search or investigation was being conducted, which tended to harass and destabilise the MPs in the conduct of their work as MPs.

Alhaji Muntaka said the CID, in a letter signed by Mr Bright Oduro, Deputy Commissioner of Police, was inviting  Mr Jinapor and Dr Ayine to appear at the CID Headquarters at 1 pm on Monday, July 31, 2017.

He said the Minister of Finance was scheduled to present the mid-year budget review on that day and, therefore, the participation of the two MPs would be impeded if they honoured the police invitation.

He, therefore, appealed to the Speaker to assure the police that the MPs were more than willing to assist them in their investigations "but the frustration and harassment should cease". 

Speaker

The Speaker said Parliament was not prejudicing anything whatsoever at this stage, but indicated that the Standing Orders provided privileges for an MP on his or her way to Parliament, while in Parliament or leaving Parliament.

"It is also worth noting that in several jurisdictions, the courts have made generous extensions to matters relating to going to, being in or coming from Parliament.

And this honourable House will continue to be very mindful of its privilege in this regard so that it should be maximised not minimised in any manner whatsoever," he said.

The Speaker said it was also true, nevertheless, that "no one is excluded from being invited to assist the police in investigations".

He said Parliament noted immediately with some reasonable satisfaction at this stage that there was supposed to be a court order in the search conducted by the police.

"Leadership would want to ascertain really whether this legal process was also followed," he said.

Background

Parliament on March 20, 2015, approved the Build, Own, Operate and Transfer Agreement between the government and the Africa and Middle East Resources Investment Group (AMERI Energy) for the installation of 10 GE TM2,500+ aero derivative gas turbines, operate, maintain, transfer and provision of support services.

But the current government is accusing the previous one of gross misrepresentation in the deal and the MP for Adanse Asokwa, Mr K. T. Hammound, has filed a motion asking Parliament to rescind its decision to approve the agreement.

A committee set up by the government found out that although AMERI secured the deal, the developer that built and financed the plant charged $360million, yet AMERI forwarded a bill of $510million in the agreement. 

Majority's support

The Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, said he did not know the reasons for the invitation of the MPs by the police.

Notwithstanding that, he said Order 22 of the Standing Orders of Parliament indicated that no civil or criminal process should be served on an MP on his way to or from Parliament, which was fortified by Article 117 of the Constitution, which dealt with the liberty of citizens.

"MPs have ever been impeded and arrested on their way to Parliament. If it happened in the past, we cannot allow that to happen now. What was wrong in the past, cannot be right today," he said.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu called on the Speaker to speak with the Inspector General of Police (IGP) that given the circumstance, the order for the MPs to appear could not be carried out.

Jinapor's account

Mr Jinapor told journalists in Parliament that five police officers, two of whom were armed with AK47 assault rifle, went to his house when he was about to leave for Parliament.

According to him, the police showed him a search warrant and told him that they were in to look for documents in relation to the AMERI contract.

He said he told the police that he did not have any documents in connection with the AMERI deal at home as he had handed over all his documents.

Mr Jinapor said the police searched his residence, opening his drawers and closets in the process.

He said they requested for his laptop, but he informed them that it was in his office at Parliament.

He said the police took away his mobile phone but he was given the opportunity to remove his chip.

Mr Jinapor added that his children were frightened by the turn of events.

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