Prime News Ghana

ASEPA disappointed by CHRAJ decision to stop probing $5m bribery claim against CJ

By Primenewsghana.com
Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson
Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson
Shares
facebook sharing button Share
twitter sharing button Tweet
email sharing button Email
sharethis sharing button Share

The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has said it is disappointed by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice’s (CHRAJ) to stop investigating a $5 million bribery allegation against Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.

CHRAJ has said it will not honour a petition by ASEPA to probe a $5 million bribery allegation made against Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah.

CHRAJ said while it was conducting preliminary investigations into the instant complaint, “it was brought to its attention that the complainant has also petitioned the President of the Republic under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution for the removal of the Respondent as Chief Justice, grounding the petition on the same allegations of bribery and corruption”.

The Commission said it would be superfluous probing the matter as ASEPA has also petitioned President Nana Akufo-Addo over the same matter.

However, Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson told Citi FM that CHRAJ seems to have flouted its mandate by discontinuing the investigation.

“If you read the case in point that CHRAJ cited as the basis for truncating this process, they claim that when a plaintiff sues the same defendant in two courts, the plaintiff is elected to stay one of the proceedings and so when CHRAJ during their preliminary investigation realized that another constitutional process has been activated, did they write to us the plaintiffs to stay one of the proceedings and proceed with the other,” he said.

He added: “with their own explanation, and their own case in point CHRAJ decided to unilaterally, violate the right of the plaintiffs by deciding for us which of the two processes to stay. We find this very unfortunate and disappointing.”

Meanwhile, the Council of State, on Friday, 20 August 2021, presented its report to the President.

The president said: “I will apprise you [Council of State] of my own findings on the matter”, adding: “I am hoping that my consultation will establish that there is unanimity between you and me on this matter before we can go on.”