Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the government of exploiting the authority of State institutions to intimidate opposition lawmakers and suppress dissenting opinions, describing the alleged actions as a systematic abuse of governmental power.
He maintained that the Minority Caucus would not abandon its constitutional oversight responsibilities despite what he characterised as a pattern of intimidation, harassment, arrests and detention targeting some of its members.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday, November 4, the Effutu Member of Parliament reaffirmed the caucus’s determination to scrutinise government policies and decisions while advocating for the interests of the Ghanaian public.
Mr Afenyo-Markin indicated that the Minority continued to enjoy considerable public support, arguing that the confidence and expectations of citizens had further strengthened its determination to demand transparency and accountability from the government.
He further claimed that several opposition lawmakers had experienced challenging circumstances, including arrests and detention, which he believed were calculated attempts to undermine their determination and discourage them from expressing dissenting views.
“We see in this pattern a coordinated autocratic abuse of power intended to exhaust our resolve and silence our voices,” he stated.
The Minority Leader’s remarks followed Tuesday’s removal of the Damongo Member of Parliament, Samuel Abu Jinapor, from the parliamentary chamber by a Parliamentary Marshal after he declined to retract an allegation directed at the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Mr Afenyo-Markin, however, clarified that the Minority had no reservations about legitimate legal accountability, emphasising that every individual, irrespective of political affiliation or parliamentary status, must remain subject to the country’s laws.
Nevertheless, he cautioned against what he described as the weaponisation of State institutions and governmental authority to compel political conformity, insisting that the opposition would firmly resist any attempt to undermine its constitutional mandate.
“What we resist and will never desist from resisting is a conversion of State power into an instrument of political submission that we can never compromise on,” he declared.
He reiterated that the Minority would continue discharging its parliamentary responsibilities notwithstanding the difficulties confronting its members, stressing that alleged intimidation would not persuade the caucus to retreat from its oversight duties.
Reaffirming the opposition’s determination to remain vocal in Parliament, Mr Afenyo-Markin declared that neither intimidation nor pressure would force the caucus into abandoning its position.
“We shall not be moved. We shall not be cowed. And we surely shall not be silenced,” he added.
