Posted: Daily Guide |Tuesday, 06 July 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The foul-mouthed politician and founder of the United Renaissance Party (URP), Charles Kofi Wayo, seems to have bitten more than he can chew as he has incurred the wrath of Ghana’s Parliament.
He is reported to have made very disparaging comments about Parliament as an institution, describing it as useless and its ‘Honourable’ members as criminals.
Kofi Wayo made the comments on Accra-based Citi FM’s current affairs programme, ‘Point Blank’, on Republic Day, July 1.
But in a sharp and swift rebuttal, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Adenta constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Kojo Adu Asare, has threatened to drag him to the Privileges Committee of the House to answer questions pertaining to his comments, since he considers them as not only disparaging, but that they also raise questions about the image and credibility of Parliament and its ‘Honourable’ members.
He has thus, together with MP for Fanteakwa, Kwabena Amankwah Asiamah, decided to take the issue up since, according to them, they are not criminals.
Speaking on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ morning show yesterday, they expressed the hope that Kofi Wayo would muster the same courage that he had when he was making those comments, to appear before the Privileges Committee when he is summoned to substantiate the charges he has leveled against Parliament.
On ‘Point Blank’, Mr. Wayo, who has over the years cultivated a habit of attacking government officials and institutions without fear, made a categorical statement that “the parliament itself is a useless place, the people there don’t need to be there, they don’t! They are criminals, a lot of them in there.”
This is a man who tried to enter Parliament, the very institution he denigrates in disparaging words as useless, but failed.
He also threw caution to the wind and went ahead to say “there is a Catherine Afeku there, she has been to court and a judge has found her guilty…nobody sacks her”, defying protests by the programme host to desist from maligning people, insisting that he had documents to back his claim.
Furthermore, Mr. Wayo said “a few weeks ago, you have this guy, what’s the name, what’s that guy’s name, some MP guy, he got involved in a gold scam; right, so why don’t parliament sack him? Eh, eh, Amoateng, he’s been arrested for cocaine, what has parliament said?
Have they thrown him out? He’s been convicted, ha...the former Speaker (of Parliament) allegedly stole a lot of things, where is he? But Ataa Ayi, what did he steal before he is in jail? The big men don’t go to jail….”
For this reason, the leader of the URP said not only are the country’s Parliamentarians a bunch of self-seeking individuals but are also mostly criminals, since, according to him, Ghana continues to be governed by colonial rules that do not favour the masses but only the elite.
Majority Leader in Parliament Cletus Avoka and MP for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, also expressed surprise at Wayo’s comments when DAILY GUIDE contacted them.
Mr. Avoka said he was going to discuss the issue with the leadership of the House and act appropriately.
Much as he appreciates Mr. Wayo’s concerns for the masses, Nana Akomea said, Wayo’s comments are unfortunate since he failed to provide any substantial evidence for the allegations, adding “I would wish that Mr. Wayo will desist from this kind of comments.”
He was not the least surprised at the decision of his colleagues to drag Kofi Wayo before the Privileges Committee since, according to him, those comments impugn on the integrity of Parliament and its members, saying “if you accuse Parliamentarians of criminality, that’s a serious charge because you are asking that they be prosecuted.”
For this reason, Nana Akomea said it would be entirely right for any MP to take the issue up.
In a country like Ghana, where “we have no water to drink”, Wayo insists that no one has any right to buy Pajero’s and Land Cruisers with tax payers’ money, saying “you don’t! We must all sacrifice to build the nation.”
Minority leader and MP for Suame, Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, did not take the issue kindly when it came up for discussion in Parliament.
He thus stressed the need for the issue to be referred to the appropriate committee for further investigations and if possible, invite Mr. Wayo to defend his claims, because Parliament is made up of distinguished personalities.
The Minority leader asked members not to glorify the statement, especially coming from “people, with all respect, who have shown to be irresponsible and belong to the lunatic fringes of society.”
Over the years, Kofi Wayo, who made heavy claims of being an oil expert and an ammunitions dealer, has been using a programme he hosts, ‘Common Sense’ on Vibe FM, to slander people, especially high government officials, calling them thieves.
He however failed to lift oil for the country when he was recently given the ‘golden’ opportunity.
Though Mr. Wayo declined to speak to DAILY GUIDE yesterday, he denied slandering all members of Parliament, because he was referring to some of them and not all.
However, the paper can report on authority that nowhere in his statement did Kofi Wayo use the word ‘some’.
Meanwhile, the House is set to decide whether or not to refer the issue to the Privileges Committee today.