Why Sosu resisted ‘unlawful’ police arrest after Madina protest

He described the arrest as unlawful

He spoke on Metro TV

Lawyer Francis-Xavier Sosu has been giving some vivid account as to why he resisted what he describes as an “unlawful” arrest from the officers of the Ghana Police Service.

After leading his constituents in a demonstration against bad roads on October 25, the MP for Madina is being sought by the Ghana Police Service for some acts they deem unlawful during the protest. They have since attempted to arrest the MP but to no avail.

Speaking on Metro TV’s ‘Good Afternoon Ghana’ show with Francisca Kakra Forson, Sosu explained that when the Police extended their invitation, he understood it as the police wanting to do a debriefing after the protest – something that the police do with organisers of demonstrations – so he requested to attend a meeting between Ranking and Deputy Ranking members of Parliament and report later.

“In fact, in all honesty, my understanding was that we were going to do a debriefing of how the protest went, which is a very normal thing to do. So, when I was invited [by the police] I said no problem, why not wait after the Ranking and Deputy Ranking members meeting… I will come there or if the meeting delays, I can always come there the following day because I have been working with you.

“Then they said no; then, I became a bit curious…so, they were insisting and because of that, I asked them – ‘are you putting me under arrest?’ – if you are putting me under arrest, it is simple; you have to tell me the reason for which you are arresting me and then you read out my rights to me, that is a very simple rule of arrest,” Sosu narrated.

When asked if the police gave a reason for the attempted arrest, the MP noted “they [Police] have a reason.”

Lawyer Sosu continued: “They just said that they have been told to arrest me and bring me. That is where I realized that no, then, there is something fundamentally wrong because you [the police] have been part of me right from the morning early hours and have all the protest together, so, why is it that at the end of the protest, things would suddenly change?

“So I told them that if it is arrest they want to arrest me, clearly, I’m on Parliamentary duties, because I have no business being there unless being there as an MP and I engaged them in my capacity as an MP, so in the notice letter to the [police], it was written to them in my capacity as an MP and they wrote back in my capacity as an MP; so, they knew that they were dealing with me in that capacity.

“When I told them that I have to come for the Ranking and Deputy Ranking members meeting, my understanding was that if everything was in good faith just as we began, they would allow me to go for the meeting after which I would come but they said no.”

To Sosu, because the Police failed to read out the reason for the arrest, then he would not allow himself to be arrested.

“If you are putting me under arrest and you cannot tell me the reason for the arrest, I have the right to resist that arrest. Every Ghanaian has the right to resist an unlawful arrest and I have said it over and over and over again. We have an ample authority in law that says that you cannot just get up and go and arrest a person, there must be a reason,” he stated.

Francis-Xavier Sosu described the actions of the Police as a mere show of power, bravado and perhaps political witchhunt, something he could not substantiate.

He said he did not use Parliamentary business to decline the arrest from the police. “Parliament is dealing with those issues,” he stressed.