We acted to save the image of Parliament – Ablakwa

Days after the ruling of the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Aaron Mike Oquaye on the Parliamentary Appointments Committee bribery allegation and the subsequent apology by Hon Hassan Ayariga, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has reiterated that the allegation was nothing but the truth.

In an interview with Yaa Titi Monday on Top 103.1fm, Mr. Ablakwa said they were compelled to accept the final outcome to save the image of Parliament.

The bribery claim against the Energy minister, Hon. Agyarko, controversial as it was raised a lot of eyebrows in the country which got many Ghanaians and the media interrogating it for weeks to establish the truth.

Due to the embarrassing nature of the allegation to the august house, a five-member committee was set up by Parliament to unearth the facts of the issue - with the outcome being that, the bribery claim made by some of the minority members, including Hon Mahama Ayariga and Hon Okudzeto Ablakwa is not true.

The committee led by Hon Joe Ghartey recommended to the House that Hon Ayariga be made to apologize unreservedly to the house that the bribery allegations he made was not true.

The North Tongue legislator Hon Ablakwa, said Honorable Ayariga apologized to save the image of the 7th Parliament of the country in accordance with the statement made by the Rt Hon Speaker about the need for Parliament to move on, on which basis they supported Hon Ayariga’s apology, because to him (Hon Ablakwa) the minority does not want to be seen as problematic in the house.

According to him, if the committee wanted to find out the real truth, they shouldn't have refused to call the witnesses he mentioned in his memo that was presented to the committee for questioning.

He said when recommended the CCTV camera evidence, the committee insisted it would tarnish the image of the house and that the public would get to know how the CCTV cameras installed in the house operates, which he claims is ridiculous.

"If that one is not evidence enough, what about the CCTV camera footage that was recommended?" he asked.

He added that, if the minority telling the truth to shield the House from further embarrassment is seen as liars, they have accepted it according to the Speaker’s call.