A group calling itself Citizens for Justice and Accountability(CJA) has served notice it will petition the Special Prosecutor over what it calls the thievery of some minority Members of Parliament while in government.
The group contends it’s outraged by the news that some Members of Parliament and former ministers for 8 years in Government, under the Mahama regime, took double salary contrary to the terms of their engagement and the laws of Ghana and hence will stop at nothing but to see such MPs indicted in the scandal prosecuted.
“We are citizens of Ghana. We are enjoined by the Constitution and other laws of Ghana to demand accountability from those who exercise the powers of the State on our behalf. We are further invited by the laws of Ghana to report the commission of crime to law enforcement agencies.
“We found the involvement of the minority leader and some key members of the minority NDC quite disheartening. There seem to be a growing sense of impunity in respect of corruption in this country.
“To end this impunity, citizens must resort to the law to deal with the blatant plunder of public resources. The minority has so far admitted to receiving double salary under former President Mahama. This admission establishes prima facie case of wrong doing,” said the CJA in its statement.
Some appointees in the erstwhile John Mahama administration who were at the time lawmakers , are being investigated for drawing their salaries on the accounts of the legislature while at the same time, being paid by the Comptroller General.
But the minority caucus in parliament since the news broke has mounted a strong defense against the charge, insisting there is no wrongdoing by the NDC MPs and former government officials who are being accused.
“Government must really be in an indecent hurry to divert attention from its failings by this pathetic attempt to cow us into submission. No wonder Government ended up with eggs on its face yesterday,” Minority spokesperson on finance and a former deputy Finance Minister, Cassiel Ato Forson told a Press Conference.
Read the full statement below
CITIZENS FOR JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY (CJA).
24th April, 2018
For Immediate Release.
WE WOULD PETITION SPECIAL PROSECUTOR OVER DOUBLE SALARIES
We are citizens of Ghana. We are enjoined by the Constitution and other laws of Ghana to demand accountability from those who exercise the powers of the State on our behalf. We are further invited by the laws of Ghana to report the commission of crime to law enforcement agencies.
We are outraged by the news that some Members of Parliament and former ministers for 8 years in Government, under President Mahama, took double salary contrary to the terms of their engagement and the laws of Ghana.
We found the involvement of the minority leader and some key members of the minority NDC quite disheartening. There seem to be a growing sense of impunity in respect of corruption in this country.
To end this impunity, citizens must resort to the law to deal with the blatant plunder of public resources. The minority has so far admitted to receiving double salary under former President Mahama. This admission establishes prima facie case of wrong doing.
We have noted the strenuous attempt to bury this shameful stealing of public resources because the alleged thieves are “Honorable Members”. If it was a case of an accountant in the public or civil service, he/she would have been dealt with according to the criminal laws of Ghana. If it was a hawker on the streets of Accra, he would have been arrested immediately, denied bail and prosecuted with the speed of light and convicted harshly.
In this matter, we have decided to respond to the invitation by our laws in respect of crimes, particularly, the Special Prosecutor Act, by taking up this broad-day light stealing of public money by some members of parliament.
We would therefore submit a written petition to the Special Prosecutor as required in section 26(1) of the Act establishing the Office of Special Prosecutor.
The gravamen of our petition would be that:
1. The Special Prosecutor investigate allegations that some Members of Parliament received double salaries for years without notifying or returning same to the appropriate agencies of State.
2. That if the allegations are found to be true, the Special Prosecutor shall initiate criminal prosecutions against these individuals.
3. That in addition to the prosecution, the Special Prosecutor shall take steps to cause the refund of all salaries received unlawfully by some minority MPs.
It is our hope that the good people of Ghana would support us in this fight so as to restore confidence in our democracy
