Sack Ken Agyapong as Defence and Interior Chairman – Online petition gets over thousand signatories

• An online petition opened has had over a thousand signatories

• Kennedy Agyapong is alleged to have threatened a journalist

Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central and also the Chairperson for Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, is under public pressure to resign after he allegedly threatened a Kumasi based journalist who had reported live about the Ejura disturbances.

According to an online petition sighted by GhanaWeb which has gathered over one thousand signatories MP is said to have frequently abused his position and power by threatening the lives of ordinary citizens.

The petition further described the MP as a “notorious lawmaker” who a couple of years ago, “sat on his television station” namely Net 2 TV, and threatened the life of an investigative journalist Ahmed Suale and went to the extent of showing his [Suale’s] photographs on television inciting the public against him.

A few short weeks after his [Agyapong’s] actions Ahmed Suale was murdered in cold blood.”

The petition further states that in the case of the Kumasi-based journalist, known as Erastus Asare Donkor, “[he] had given an eyewitness account to a committee in charge of the public [inquiry] ordered by the President regarding military shootings in Ejura which resulted in the death of two citizens. This rather unfortunate situation was on the back [of] the murder of a social media activist popularly known as Kaaka.”

Kennedy Agyapong, on Net 2 TV on Friday, July 9, was reported to have verbally abused and threatened to attack Asare Donkor, “for the journalistic work that the latter undertook during the recent shootings and killing incident at Ejura”.

The politician was filmed on the live Net 2 programme which was widely published on social media platforms, stating that, “if he [Mr Agyapong] were President, he would have ensured that Erastus Asare Donkor is beaten mercilessly.”

The media house with which the journalist works later filed a formal complaint against the Assin Central MP, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, for threatening the life of the journalist.

In the letter, dated July 13, 2021, addressed to the Deputy Regional Commander, Ashanti Region and copied to the Speaker of Parliament, the media group is requesting a thorough investigation into the threats issued by the MP.

Meanwhile, Speaker Alban Bagbin has referred Kennedy Ohene Agyapong to the Privileges Committee of Parliament for allegedly instigating attacks against the journalist.

The directive issued by the Speaker on Wednesday, July 14, will enable the Ghanaian Parliament to decide if the alleged actions of Agyapong breach the Standing Orders of Parliament and if so, recommend appropriate sanctions.

“This is my first time […] hearing this matter”, the Speaker said. “As it is now, I am compelled to refer to the Privileges Committee. It is a matter the Privileges Committee will have to go into and report to the House and it is for the House to decide whether the honourable Member is contemptuous of the House.”