Parliament’s committee investigating the recent bribery scandal that hit the Appointments Committee is expected to present its report today [March 29, 2017]
The report is expected to explain the circumstances surrounding the scandal and make some recommendations on the way forward on the issue which many say has dented the image of the House.
The Acting Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Kate Addo, earlier this week told Citi News the presentation had been captured in Parliament’s business statement for this week.
“The committee chairman had indicated that the committee will lay its report on Wednesday and it was contained in the business statement that was read on the floor on Friday. So we are expecting that on Wednesday the committee will lay its report,” she added.
The Joe Ghartey Committee reportedly rounded off its work by taking evidence from three more witnesses.
The five-member Committee was set up following allegations that the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko bribed some members of the Appointments Committee.
The Energy Minister has since denied the allegations against him.
The presentation of the report will likely bring a permanent resolution to the matter which has reportedly caused some fracas because some members of parliament.
Meanwhile, the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) is skeptical over the objectivity of the outcome of committee’s report.
According to a senior associate of ACEPA, Tuinese Amuzu, questions that were posed to witnesses who appeared before the committee were too skewed in a certain way that did not tell the entire story of what transpired.
Speaking at a multi-stakeholder forum on strengthening responsiveness to corruption-related incidents, Amuzu said “the posture of the committee is as a result of the kind of training that members of the committee had. So we are all brought up into a system that say, if you are coming into this committee there are rules by which you should come. We should be more interested in the substantive matter, and coming to the bottom of it.”
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
