Jerry Ahmed Shaib claims most opposition MPs have been called in by state investigators since 2025, raising questions about free speech in Parliament.
The Member of Parliament for Weija-Gbawe, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, says the wave of police invitations, investigations and arrests involving opposition lawmakers is designed to frighten them into silence on the floor of Parliament.
Mr Shaib, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), made the claim in an interview with JoyNews on the margins of the party's delegates conference in Kumasi, as reported by Adom Online.
The trigger: a detained colleague
His comments came as the MP for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, was before the courts facing three charges, including money laundering. Parliament had already issued a statement condemning his continued detention in the custody of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), the police unit that handles major criminal cases.
Mr Shaib said he was troubled that an MP who, in his account, turned himself in voluntarily to investigators was still kept in cells for days. He contrasted that with other cases where suspects have secured bail.
"Even people who have done cocaine issues have been granted bail, and they are walking," he said.
He was careful to add that lawmakers should not be shielded from the law. Nobody, he said, is arguing that an MP with a case to answer should be left alone. His objection is to how long the process takes and how it is applied.
The numbers he cites
Mr Shaib put the scale of the invitations very high, telling JoyNews that "almost 75 to 80%" of NPP MPs have at some point been invited by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) or the Ghana Police Service.
EOCO investigates financial and organised crime. The BNI is the state's internal intelligence agency.
He said the pattern was not new and had run for close to 20 months, rather than only in recent months. NewsPulse GH could not independently verify the percentage he quoted.
His argument on parliamentary work
According to Mr Shaib, lawmakers who make sharp criticisms on the floor often find themselves invited for questioning, or restricted from travelling, soon afterwards. He described this as the "modus operandi".
He also argued that the arrests disrupt actual parliamentary work, pointing to Mr Awuah's involvement in what he called the Salomey Awuti matter and asking who would now handle that file.
On whether MPs were now afraid to speak, Mr Shaib said politics carries sacrifices and that some of his colleagues had prepared their families for that reality.
He admitted he had not personally confirmed reports about correspondence between Parliament and the authorities over Mr Awuah's detention.
What happens next
Mr Awuah's case continues in court. Reports indicate he was granted bail of GH¢10 million with two sureties after his lawyers pressed for release on self-recognisance.
