Effutu Member of Parliament (MP), Alex Afenyo-Markin wants one Abam Quaye, a senior official of the Customs Excise Preventive Service (CEPS )to be sacked for meddling in the affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
[contextly_sidebar id=”TKjSYUNY7milvzuTLfUOXo3SWI67g40X”]Afenyo-Markin’s argument is that the conduct of the CEPS officer has violated Article 83 and Article 94.3(b) of the 1992 Constitution which bars officers serving in the security services from engaging in partisan politics.
The officer I question, Abam Quaye, is alleged to have said on radio that the NPP parliamentary candidate aspirant for Awutu Senya East, George Andah is influencing people both at the regional and constituency level to vote for him in the party’s June primaries.
Quaye is also alleged to have said that if the election in 2016 will be monetized, then the residents in Awutu Senya East should vote for their sitting MP who doubles as the Foreign Affairs Minister because she richer than Andah.
On Eyewitness News, the outspoken Afenyo-Markin who is also a legal practitioner said the Central Regional chairman of the NPP is worried about this development since the CEPS officer is not a member of the largest opposition party in Ghana.
Afenyo-Markin pointed out that Abam Quaye is a member of the security services and by Article 83 and Article 94.3(b) of the constitution; he is not qualified to involve himself in partisan matters.
“For him to be on radio interfering in NPP affairs amounts to high indiscipline and a breach of the constitution and we wonder where he gets such powers to meddle in NPP affairs,” he remarked.
He stressed that “he [Abam Quaye] being a member of the security services, he is not even qualified to be a card-bearing member of a political party, let alone an executive member.”
According to the Effutu MP, the “principle of neutrality is expected of people who serve the state in such institutions” and since the constitution has its letter and spirit, the spirit behind Article 94.3(b) must be interpreted to ensure that members of the security services stay clear off partisan politics.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana