Arrest could derail reconciliation - Bagbin

The Minority leader in Parliament, Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin has warned that the harassment of opponents of the government as animated in the arrest and detention of the former Youth and Sports Minister by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) could derail efforts at national reconciliation.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Nadowli-North described the MP's detention as "illegal" and chided President Kufuor for not showing some modicum of restraint in the way his government handled the matter.

"If you are calling for reconciliation and then some groups are seen as targets of your action, definitely there is no way that you would expect them to come before you and try to reconcile with you," he stressed.

He told the Chronicle minutes after addressing a news conference during which the minority announced a one week boycott of parliamentary proceedings, that so far as the minority was concerned the arrest of Hon. Enoch Teye Mensah sent the wrong signals about the government's commitment to national reconciliation.