President JEA Mills
- Over 'senseless arrest and detention' of Kennedy Agyepong

A leading member of the ruling National Democratic Congress and a public interest lawyer, Sam Pee Yalley, has taken a serious swipe at the Mills-Mahama led government for ordering 'the senseless   arrest and detention' of Kennedy Agyapong, MP for Assin North, over his intemperate comments on radio.

 
According to the man who has just been promoted from the position of acting deputy CEO of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority to the CEO, the Mills-Mahama led government woefully erred in ordering the arrest, describing it as unlawful and abuse of the MP's fundamental human right.

 
What compounded the situation, he contended, was the failed attempt by the Attorney-General's office to charge the MP with certain offenses which do not exist in the statute books.

 
Speaking on Kyzz FM, a local radio station in Takoradi, Mr Yalley also accused the Attorney-General's office for poor handling of the case, adding that Ghana has a very weak and incompetent state prosecution which is very dangerous for her democratic dispensation.

 
To the NDC guru, it would not be out of place if the Attorney-General's office is completely overhauled to enable it perform its constitutional mandate effectively and efficiently.

 
He noted that although Mr Agyapong's outbursts were very appalling, the charges brought against him do not exist in the nation's statute books, adding that the Attorney-General's office goofed in charging him with the offenses.

 
The Assin North Member of Parliament was charged with treason felony, attempted genocide and terrorism over forty-eight hours after his arrest for uttering certain words on Accra based Oman FM considered intemperate and inflammatory.   He was granted bail Thursday in the sum of GHC 200,000 to re-appear before the court on May 4.

 
What even makes the case more ridiculous, according to Lawyer Sam Pee Yalley, was failure on the part of the State Attorney to 'prosecute' the MP at a court of competent jurisdiction, instead of dragging him to the Agyabeng Magistrate court in Accra which had no jurisdiction to hear it.

 
He noted that those aberrations had shown that the Attorney- General's office is not on top of issues, calling for its operations to be critically looked at.

 
The legal practitioner noted that Mr Agyapong had every right to drag the state to the law court to demand compensation for his unlawful arrest and over 48-hour detention in the BNI custody.

 
Notwithstanding all these, Mr Yalley urged all Ghanaians, including politicians and journalists, to be mindful of their utterances to reduce the political temperature in the country.

 
A former Attorney-General and lead counsel for Kennedy Agyapong, Nii Ayikoi Otoo, had earlier described the charges levelled against his client as 'frivolous ones which do not hold any water.'    

 
The arrest, he said, undoubtedly had a political undertone.  

 
In his view, the ruling NDC deliberately took Kennedy Agyapong to the inappropriate   court just to cover its shame and to create the impression   that the MP was after all taken to the court for committing an offense against the state.