Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM today [Saturday], Mr. Ayariga said he would not go back on the oath he swore when he testified to the allegations before the Joe Ghartey committee.

[contextly_sidebar id=”XNhMvKhzhGFq3J0qvJ56U8PJy8qgBJUf”]“I swore an oath and told what I went through… those are facts. If somebody evaluates and says that he doesn’t believe it, that is his conclusion based on his analysis. But the fact that you have lived through that and you said it under oath means it should stand.”

The Joe Ghartey committee concluded that, Mr. Ayariga fell foul of Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and Orders 28 and 30 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament and thus recommended that the Bawku Central MP be made to apologize to Speaker of Parliament.

Parliament voted to approve the committee’s report leading to an apology from Mr. Ayariga, but the MP cautioned that the House’s adoption of the report without any debate could have further legal implications.

“The decision of the House raises serious legal issues. If you say I should retract, but I swore an oath, would that now be perjury?” he questioned.

Parliament needed ‘additional wisdom’

Mr. Ayariga further hinted at some legal recourse after the Speaker gives his final ruling on the Joe Ghartey committee’s report and process, which he described as restrictive.

According to him, a debate on the report would have prevented any potential legal fallout in the matter.

“Maybe, the first thing you do is you comply with the decision of the House and then you institute legal challenges with those decisions so that you state to a court your grounds and the court will now examine all the other areas of law and then come to a conclusion.”

“That is why they should have allowed debate on the report, as discerning legal minds would have had an opportunity to draw attention to all these issues and that would have enriched the conclusion of the House when voting on the matter. But the restrictive process disabled the House from benefiting from additional wisdom in addition to the wisdom of the members of the committee,” Mr. Ayariga added.

My hands were tied – Ayariga on apology

Mr. Ayariga believes it should not matter whether his apology to the Speaker of Parliament after being charged with contempt by the Joe Ghartey committee was from his heart or not.

Defending the demeanour of his apology, he explained that his “hands were tied” because it became a decision that had been adopted by the House.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ayariga stands by bribery allegations despite apology appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“Whether that [the apology] was from the bottom of my heart, whether I agree with the grounds on which you are asking me to apologize? That is for me to feel inside and decide whether I want to divulge or not,” Mr. Ayariga stated on The Big Issue.

[contextly_sidebar id=”MgPWKt9BfHRZg41I4Qexfv1LDYUcHGSD”]He insisted that his apology was simply pursuant to the decision of Parliament after MPs had voted to accept the report of the Joe Ghartey committee.

The Bawku Central MP was charged with contempt for making unmerited bribery allegations against Members of the Appointments Committee and the Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko.

It was concluded that Mr. Ayariga fell foul of Article 122 of the 1992 Constitution, Section 32 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300) and Orders 28 and 30 (2) of the Standing Orders of Parliament.

In his apology to the Speaker of Parliament on Thursday, he said: “Mr. Speaker, if you say I should apologize, I have apologized,” but some have criticized the apology for not having remorse, with the Majority side expressing displeasure with the perceived disrespect of the House and its Speaker.

‘My hands were tied’

But Mr. Ayariga, defending the demeanour of his apology, explained that his “hands were tied” because it became a decision that had been adopted by the House.

“…the recommendations of the committee became the decision of the House and as a respectful member of the House, I then said… since you have already put the question and it has been voted and the decision has been taken that I should render an apology, I have to show respect to the 274 members sitting, so if you say I should apologize, I hereby apologize.”

“My rendition of an apology is pursuant to a decision of the House which binds me. I am bound by the decision of the House to render an apology, whether I like it or not, I am bound by that decision.”

Mr. Ayariga maintained that, his apology was not tied to anything external, quizzing: “What are the conditions? You asked me to apologize so I am saying that if you [The Speaker of Parliament] ask me to apologize, I apologize. Is that not ordinary English… I didn’t say I am apologizing subject to XYZ.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post My hands were tied – Ayariga on apology appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This was after the Joe Ghartey committee found the Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga guilty of contempt of Parliament, and recommended that he should apologize to the House.

[contextly_sidebar id=”KmaYIRPFHwClBwxgOL4CvsbgLmsrztAg”]Dr. Opoku Prempeh in a statement said he took “grave exception to the scurrilous and unfounded allegations”.

He further said he expected “Sam George to do the honourable thing by swiftly apologizing for his unfounded claim.”

‘I owe him no apology’

But responding to the statement on Eyewitness News, Sam George asserted that, he owed the Education Minister no apology.

“I stand fully and solely by the words I uttered in my interview this [Friday] morning on the Citi Breakfast Show. He should run away from it. He should rather be a man and admit that he did the wrong thing and stop running around and bundling words around.”

“I owe him no apology. He owes the honourable member from Tamale North an apology. And if he will be humble enough, he owes me an apology from four weeks ago,” the Ningo Prampram MP stated.

Dr. Opoku Prempeh’s statement also made reference to proceedings on March 10, 2017, and denied Sam George’s claim that he had called him a fool for prompting the Speaker to ask him if he was wearing a school uniform or was properly dressed to Parliament.

Sam George again stood by his claims that Dr. Opoku Prempeh called him a fool on the floor of Parliament for his actions, noting that Parliament’s Hansard “chose to omit some very unprintable words.”

“We were all in the chamber and I was not the only one who heard it. There are members of Parliament on our side who equally heard it and that is what triggered Alhassa Suhuyini’s anger… During the heckling, a lot of words were bundled around that don’t make their way into the Hansard.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I don’t owe NAPO any apology – Sam George appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.