Publish report on CHRAJ Boss - GII

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has called on the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood to release a report of the committee that investigated impropriety against the suspended Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms Lauretta Vivian Lamptey.

The Judicial committee established by the Chief Justice to investigate alleged impropriety against the suspended CHRAJ boss has concluded hearings into the matter and is set to submit its report.

Madam Loretta Lamptey cross-examined the complainant in the case, Richard Nyamah as she mounted a strong defence of her innocence.

The probe into the CHRAJ boss’s conduct has been a long one.

She was investigated for paying $4,200 monthly rent on her plush AU Village Apartment for 33 months while over Ȼ180,000 was being spent to renovate her official bungalow.

She maintained her innocence throughout the process.

Joy News understands that after months of hearing arguments and collecting evidence, the committee set up by the Chief Justice is done with its work.

The GII Tuesday issued a statement questioning the perceived delay in finalising the process.

They demanded the Chief Justice displayed “the independence and incorruptible nature of Ghana’s judiciary by releasing the report if it is ready”.

A statement signed by Mr Vitus A. Azeem, Executive Director of Gil, said "this is the only way to go if the ju­diciary hopes to maintain its credibility."

He said if Ms Lamptey has been cleared, she should be restored to her position as the Commis­sioner of CHRAJ, and if she has been found guilty, the necessary sanctions should apply. Justice cannot afford to be delayed, especially by the judiciary.

The five-member com­mittee was chaired by Mr Justice Anin Yeboah, a jus­tice of the Supreme Court.

Other members of the committee are Mr Justice A.A. Benin, a Supreme Court judge; Ms Justice Mariama Owusu, a Court of Appeal judge; Mr Edwin P.D. Barnes, a former chief director of the Ministry of the Interior, and Brigadier- General Fuseini Iddrisu.

Mr Azcem was of the view that the long silence is worrying and many Ghana­ians may give different inter­pretations to this silence.

He explained that what­ever interpretations people give to this silence, the Com­missioner, on her part, and the Ghanaian taxpayers de­serve justice, thus the silence on the matter does not serve this purpose.

It is often said that "jus­tice delayed is justice de­nied," and this seems to be the position with this case, he added.

According to the Gil boss, in recent times, the John Mahama-led adminis­tration has yielded to pres­sures to investigate allegations of corruption and other types of malfeasance against various public offi­cers.

"These investigations included the Judgment Debt Commission, the Brazil 2014 Commission, EOCO investigations into the opera­tions of GYEEDA and the so-called investigations into the Subah Info Solutions saga.

"The pressures for action have often come from civil society organisations, the media, social commentators and a cross-section of citi­zens across the political di­vide interested in promoting transparency and accounta­bility.

"However, most of these commissions of inquiry have taken longer than expected to carry out their investiga­tions, often for no obvious reason," he said.