Majority Chief Whip Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor has indicated that the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Asante Akyem North MP, Ohene Kwame Frimpong remain unclear.
He stressed that Ghanaian authorities are yet to receive official details regarding the allegations underpinning the arrest warrant.
“To be candid, there is no official disclosure of the reasons. We are yet to get the reasons underpinning the issuance of the warrant,” he stated in an interview on 3FM’s Sunrise, Thursday, May 14.
He further disclosed that the Majority Caucus in Parliament has secured a private lawyer to provide legal support to the detained MP.
“We have gotten a lawyer for him, a Ghanaian-based in Amsterdam who practices in The Hague. He is the one dealing with the legal issues to see what we can do,” Dafeamekpor noted.
He revealed that lawyers handling the case only recently gained access to the warrant, which he said was issued on April 26.
“The lawyers are just informing me that they have seen the warrant and it was issued on April 26. So even as a sovereign nation, I doubt if we have been informed in any way,” he added.
The South Dayi MP disclosed that Ghana’s Attorney-General has been tasked to provide a legal opinion on the implications of the MP travelling with a diplomatic passport and how that may affect the ongoing processes.
According to him, the legal opinion will be shared with Parliament, the lawyers in The Hague and prosecutors handling the matter.
He explained that although the MP was on a private trip, he travelled using a diplomatic passport, a development he said raises legal and diplomatic considerations that are currently being examined.
“Even though it is a private trip, he is travelling on his diplomatic passport so you know there are implications in terms of the statues and all of that,” he said.
Dafeamekpor also disclosed that he recently held a conference call on Tuesday, May 12 involving the MP, his lawyers and some constituency officials, during which the MP denied engaging in any activity that could have attracted the attention of US authorities.
“I asked him that since becoming an MP whether he has done anything so untoward to attract the attention of the American government this way, he said no,” he stated.
He added that the MP similarly denied involvement in any wrongdoing that could attract such arrest prior to entering Parliament.
“And I asked him in his previous life before coming to Parliament and he said no, he had not done anything like that to attract or even be cautioned.”
According to Dafeamekpor, the MP is in good condition while legal teams continue working “frantically” to determine the next course of action.
Ohene Kwame Frimpong was arrested on May 10 and detained at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
This was disclosed by the Clerk to Parliament, Mr Ebenezer Djietror, in a Facebook post on May 12.
“It has come to the attention of Parliament that, the Hon Member for Asante Akyem North Constituency, Mr Kwame Ohene Frimpong has been detained at the Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam in the Netherlands,” the post read.
It added that, “The Rt Hon Speaker and the Leadership of the House are in touch with Ghana’s Mission in The Hague for detailed information on the matter. The public will be duly informed appropriately on this matter.”
