The Member of Parliament for Wa West in the Upper West Region, Mr Peter Lanchene Toobu, has expressed his utmost disgust at the decision by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to withdraw the military security detail of the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Bagbin.

According to the MP, who served as an Executive Secretary to former IGP David Asante-Apeatu, the composition of the Speaker’s security detail is clearly defined in the 1992 Constitution.

Talking about whether it is the job of the police or military to protect government officials, he said the police are professionally trained for the issues of civil and internal security while the military is trained for combat.

“It is the reason the police hierarchy, at a point in time, raised questions about the institution mandated by the Constitution to protect the President of the Republic. Upon this, the military assigned a reason that they are mandated to do so by virtue of the fact that the president is the Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces,” he explained.

Mr Toobu was speaking in an interview with Kwame Obeng Sarkodie on Accra100.5FM’s morning show Ghana Yensom on Monday, 17 January 2022.

He was of the view that the Speaker's benefits, as the third most important gentleman in the hierarchy of governance, cannot be varied to his disadvantage per the 1992 Constitution.

“I laughed when I saw the letter purporting to have the Speaker’s military security detail withdrawn because there are people in government who have military detail that they do not deserve,” he said. 

He asked why the Speaker cannot have military security when the likes of Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, Attorney General Godfred Odame and Electoral Commission Chair Jean Mensa, among others, have military protection.

Mr Toobu said withdrawing the Speaker’s military security detail is politically motivated.

“When the police and the military want to do their professional work, they should be left to do their professional work devoid of political interferences,” he stated. 

In his view, the officer who improperly assigned the military personnel to protect the Speaker should be punished.