Kwame Tawiah In Hot Waters Over PAC

Alfred Agbesi Woyome

KWAME TAWIAH, spokesperson for embattled National Democratic Congress (NDC) businessman Alfred Agbesi Woyome, has landed himself in trouble after bad-mouthing members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament and the entire legislature.

Kwame Tawiah is being dragged to the Privileges Committee of Parliament by a concerned citizen, Seth Owusu-Marfo for making unsavoury remarks about the leadership of the PAC and bringing the entire Parliament into disrepute on an Accra-based radio station.

Immediately after the solicitors of his boss had had a legal tussle with some members of PAC Wednesday afternoon, Kwame Tawiah apparently attacked the integrity of the PAC Chairman, Albert Kan-Dapaah and other members of the Committee on Hot FM, saying, “These are the people we pay them [the] taxpayer’s money, they disgraced themselves at the PAC.”

Woyome had appeared before the PAC to explain why he allegedly defrauded the state by receiving GH¢51.2million from the state as judgment debt, which had been captured in the 2010 report of the Auditor-General.

It was after a fierce legal tussle between Woyome’s solicitors and Kan-Dapaah as well as some members of the Committee that Kwame Tawiah spewed invectives at the lawmakers.

Consequently, Owusu-Marfo has petitioned the Speaker of Parliament to summon Kwame Tawiah before the Privileges Committee in respect of the unsavoury remarks.

In the petition dated September 13, 2012, Owusu-Marfo indicated he was petitioning the Speaker in his capacity as “a citizen of this country, who has the right to defend and protect the Constitution of Ghana.”

The petition has been copied to the Clerk to Parliament, the Majority and the Minority Leaders and the media.

Owusu-Marfo stated in the petition that “Madam Speaker, the above-named individual (Kwame Tawiah), who claims to be spokesperson for Mr. Alfred Agbesi Woyome sought to bring the entire Legislature into disrepute in a reaction to the decision by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament to proceed with its inquiry into the payment of some judgment debts involving Mr. Agbesi Woyome in the 2010 report of [the] Auditor-General”.

He said even though he did not have the capacity to cause any media House to produce full details of the interview Kwame Tawiah had on Hot FM, he believed the Speaker’s high office could cause “the said media house to produce a copy of the interview to assist you [to] take a firm decision on this matter.”

“Madam Speaker, I believe we all have a duty to ensure that citizens do not hide under the cloak of freedom of speech to undermine the very institutions that form the bedrock of our democracy just to serve the selfish interests of individuals,” Owusu-Marfo stated.

He appealed to the office of the Speaker to act urgently to protect the integrity of Parliament, by summoning Kwame Tawiah before the Privileges Committee of Parliament to serve as a deterrent to other members of the public who dare to treat the Legislature with contempt.

“Madam Speaker, I hope this matter will be treated in a purely bipartisan manner and the right action taken by your high office in service to God and our motherland,” Owusu-Marfo said.