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Media Foundation boss calls for demo against parlaiment over corruption allegations
In a Facebook post Sunday, Mr Braimah said the rampant cases of corruption in parliament are "so shameful, embarrassing and disgusting."
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In a Facebook post Sunday, Mr Sulemana Braimah said the rampant cases of corruption in parliament are "so shameful, embarrassing and disgusting."
"That is the institution that is supposed to have oversight over the public purse. Is our purse safe at all? Last year when I complianed about MPs and the phenomenon of 'T&T' and compared it with Soli by journalists, I was told i could face the priviledges committee for contempt of parliament," he said. "Then it was explained that the MPs dont request for the T&T, they only receive them.
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“Time for action against parliamentary corruption. A demo against parliamentary corruption will be in order,” he urged.
The former Chairman of the Finance Committee, James Klutse Avedzi, said that his committee received Ȼ100,000 from officials of the National Lottery Authority ahead of the consideration of amendments to the National Lottery Act, 2006 (Act 722).
The legal advisor to the NLA, David Lamptey had in separate e-mails addressed to the then Director-General of the NLA, Brigadier General Martin Ahiaglo (Retired) in August 2016, requested the approval of a total sum of Ȼ150,000 to push the bill for the consideration by parliamentarians.
However, Mr. Avedzi said that the Authority first presented 50,000 cedis to the Committee "but when we looked at the provisions, we realised that the amount was not sufficient so they promised to bring another 50,000 cedis."
This is in spite of claims by the NLA's David Lamptey that the funds were spent on accommodation and other items for the members of the committee ahead of a workshop at the Royal Senchi Hotel last year.
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The other Ȼ50,000 is yet to be accounted for.
On Thursday, three anti-corruption civil groups; the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Centre for Democratic Development-Ghana and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition have demanded an independent probe into the matter.
In a joint statement, the three anti-graft bodies said that the claims, if not investigated, will gradually ruin the reputation of parliament.
"This revelation, coming on the back of the unsatisfactory handling of Honourable Mahama Ayariga, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central’s bribery allegation presents a further challenge to the already dented image of Parliament and growing eroding trust in politics and the political class in the Fourth Republic,” they noted in a statement.
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They further argued that there should be “the setting up an independent body outside of Parliament possibly chaired by someone of the reputation of Mr. Emile Short, former Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) or someone of similar standing, to look at the alleged bribery case, to investigate this issue, review the payment practices in Parliament and make clear recommendations for regulating these processes.”
But the Director of Public Affairs at Parliament, Kate Addo, has indicated members of the Finance Committee who received money from the NLA to deliberate on a Lottery Law cannot be sanctioned.
She said said that members of the committee that were involved in the act belonged to the 6th parliament which ceased to function immediately the 7th parliament came into being on January 7, 2017.
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