Resign to save CHRAJ’s ‘sinking image’ – GII to Lauretta

The anti-graft agency, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has added to the mounting pressure on the Commissioner of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Lauretta Lamptey to resign.

GII arrived at this conclusion during their Membership Meeting (AMM), held on December in Accra and called on Madam Lamptey to step down to “salvage the sinking image of the Commission.”

The CHRAJ Commissioner has been accused of  wasting about $166,500 of taxpayers  money on hotel bills instead of occupying her official residence.

She has also been widely criticized for spending another lump sum on renovating her official bungalow.

The GII said it had analysed the facts of the case and had arrived at the conclusion that it would be wise for the Commissioner to resign.

According to the GII, “the fact that the Commissioner is entitled to accommodation provided by the state does not mean she should ignore the concerns of the general public and continue to stay in an expensive hotel with her family at the cost of the state.”

“We note that this is not the first time the integrity of Ms. Lamptey has been publically questioned. In 2012, when she was first appointed as Head of CHRAJ, it took public pressure to force her to resign from her board position at the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB).”

They explained that the call for the Commissioner to stand down “is not intended to prejudice the legal case. We think that in spite of the formal investigation, the honourable thing to do to save the sinking image of the country’s foremost anti-corruption state institution is for her to resign.”

GII is also advocating that the “appointment of the head and management of CHRAJ be made up of a non-partisan committee made up of persons of repute, representing the Executive, Parliament (with representatives from both ruling and opposition parties), civil society and the private sector.”

They further called for the creation of a separate anti-corruption commission that would be given adequate resources and the independence to carry out its duties and responsibilities of dealing with corruption in the country.

The Attorney Generals Department following, several petitions by some institutions and individuals to have Ms Lamptey impeached is currently investigating the issue.

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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.c