Ken Ofori Atta, Finance Minister
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will be dragging the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to court, over its handling of the conflict of interest petition in relation to the $2.25 billion bond issue.
He is heading to court to compel CHRAJ to overturn some of the declarations it considers irrelevant to the petition.
[ads1]Addressing a news conference in Accra today [Thursday], the Information Minister, Mustapha Hamid, said the Finance Minister believes CHRAJ went “beyond the matter of conflict of interest to make pronouncements on other matters that it was not seized with the capacity to make.”
Mr. Hamid said went beyond its mandate to probe the conflict of interest claims to pass comments on the actual bond issue.
“CHRAJ can only make pronouncements on conflict of interest situations and not issues to do with the bond issuance and its ancillary subjects.,” he stated.
CHRAJ, whilst clearing Mr. Ofori-Atta of any conflict of interest claims, also said the Finance Minister failed to declare Databank as an asset to the Attorney General.
“We find that it these extraneous matters which CHRAJ commented on, which have become the ammunition with which the NDC has started a new round of attacks. We hereby serve notice that Ken Ofori-Atta will proceed to the courts immediately to seek to set aside those extraneous matters in the CHRAJ report.”
These extraneous matters have given the opposition National Democratic Congress cause to still attack the Finance Minister, despite him being found of the conflict of interest charges, according to Mr. Hamid.
The Minority in Parliament on Wednesday called on President Akufo-Addo to sack Mr. Ofori-Atta for breaching aspects of the law in the issuance of the or also suggested that the Finance Minister resign.
“We notice that the CHRAJ report, even when it has found that the substantive case brought before it by Brogya Gyamfi has failed, offers the NDC a leeway to do the kind of mischief that they are doing… CHRAJ’s refusal to call Ken Ofori-Atta to explain this item on his declaration form was a travesty of justice and fails the test of natural justice,” Mr. Hamid said.
He maintained that Mr. Ofori-Atta declared Databank as an institution in which he holds shares.
Mr. Ofori-Atta is notably the Co-Founder of Databank Financial Services Limited and served as its Executive Chairman from 1990 to February 14, 2012.
Source: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
