Revoke indemnity clause of Parliamentarians—Kwame Walker’s call

Politician, Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker, has called for the revocation of the indemnity clause that shields members of Parliament from prosecution.

According to him, the revocation would make parliamentarians behave responsibly as expected on them.

Mr Asiedu Walker was commenting on the chaos that erupted in the parliament house on the night of January 7, when Hon. Carlos Ahinkra of the Tema West Constituency snatched a ballot paper during the election of the speaker of the 8th parliament of the 4th republic of Ghana.

He condemned that incident and described it as disgraceful. He called on the leadership of parliament to investigate the matter and sanction Mr. Carlos Ahinkra.

Mr Walker said, the indemnity clause that makes it impossible for sitting members of parliament to be arrested and prosecuted, makes them feel untouchable and, therefore, could always have their way.

"No one must be above the law in this country, including the president", Mr Walker stated.

He promised that he was prepared to fund review of the country's Constitution or the completion of the process initiated by late Professor John Evans Atta Mills.

He stressed that without punishment or some semblance of a deterrent, members of parliament would flout the law all the time.

Mr Asiedu Walker further touched on the payment of exgratia to members of parliament. He said, he did not support the blanket payment of exgratia to all members of parliament.

He proposed that, exgratia should be paid on merit of hard work.

He claimed that, some of the members of parliament do nothing close to what is expected of them, and, therefore, do not deserve any exgratia for the mere fact that they are members of parliament.

He also challenged the amount of money paid as exgratia. He argued that, paying over Gh¢600,000 as exgratia to MPs, exclusive of their salaries, car, fuel, housing and other allowances was outrageous and must not be encouraged.

Mr Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker further congratulated Hon. Alban Bagbin on his election as speaker of parliament and urged him to work in the interest of the country.