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Ashanti Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sam Pyne has stoutly come to the defense of Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson, Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East and Special Development Initiatives Minister, over her shooting incident at a registration centre in the Central Region.
Hon. Hawa Koomson fired shots from a gun she had carried to the Step to Christ registration centre at the Awutu Senya East constituency.
She claims was necessitated after percieving her life was under a threat.
“I realised the lives of my people were in danger. So I wanted to scare the people. I fired the warning shots. I didn’t direct it at anybody”, she said in an interview on Adom News.
She further explained her reason for taking a gun to the centre saying ”I’m a Member of Parliament, I need to protect myself. It was at dawn, my police escort had not started work yet. So that is a mechanism I have adopted in his absence”.
Following her action, the National Peace Council, civil society groups, political party members and a section of the general public have called on her to resign or President Nana Akufo-Addo to exercise a punitive measure against her.
The Chairman of the National Peace Council, Most Reverend Dr Emmanuel Asante says the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) should take a disciplinary action against her.
“One would expect that an honourable person like her would have done the honourable thing. Even if your bodyguard is not there what stops you from calling the police to provide protection? Look at the situation she has created. There is no justification to what she did as a lawmaker; breaking the law”, he asserted.
But speaking on Peace FM’s”Kokrokoo”, Sam Pyne says Hon. Hawa Koomson didn’t act in contravention of the laws of Ghana.
According to him, “the country’s laws make provision for people to defend themselves when they sense their lives are under threat” that could lead to death.
”Does she have the right to defend herself from the people she felt threatened by their actions? he quizzed.
He further wondered if those calling for her resignation would have acted differently in her shoes.
”Who among the critics will not protect him or herself if somebody threatens to do something lethal against him or her?”
Sam Pyne told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that ”Ghana’s laws support that if you’re human or a Ghanaian and you perceive terror which could lead to your death, you have the right to protect yourself. It’s a legal provision; you have the right to protect yourself. Secondly, if she indeed fired the gunshots, did she direct it at a human being or rather shoot into the air to warn her attackers? Also, does she have the right to own a gun? Yes, she has the right because the government has made provision through the security agencies for the Ministers and other appointees to have some sort of protection.”
Source: Peacefmonline.com
