Member of Parliament (MP) for Ododiodioo constituency, Edwin Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, has vowed to use all available means to demand answers on why portions of the old parliament house situated near the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum in Accra was demolished.
"Who gave them the rights. What mandates do they have to carry out the demolition of the old parliament house", a visibly upset Nii lante Vanderpuye said in an interview Wednesday.
He said being an MP for the constituency that hosts the building, he was entitled to some consultations before any such decisions were taken.Â
"I think as a stakeholder if any decision of a sort was to be taken we should have been consulted. I am a member of parliament for this area and at least I have a relationship with the old parliament house as a parliamentarian," he said.
The demolition attracted several backlashes from the public who questioned why a historical edifice like the old parliament house be destroyed.
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) under whose authority part of the building was pulled down said the demolition was necessary as portions that were demolished posed a threat to its staff.
The commission had already received parliamentary approval for an amount of GH¢15 million under its budgetary allocation of GH¢37,816,401 to construct a new one.
However, the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah described the demolition as illegal explaining that his office had requested CHRAJ to furnish it with additional documents only to find out the historical landmark was being pulled down.
The former youth and sports minister said he had already informed parliamentary caucus and the Ga Traditional Council on the way forward and " If it demands that we file a petition to the office of the president, the speaker of parliament and any other important state organisations to seek answers we will do," he added.
Mr Vanderpuye said "I have decided to file a petition to the honorable speaker when we resume Parliament we bring before the house the people who did that to explain to us who granted them the permission".
"I am not going to allow this to go. I am ready to put my parliamentary seat on the line to fight for this," he added.