Member of Parliament for Effutu Constituency, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, is of the view that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is setting a bad precedent with the arrest of two government officials.
Chairman of PAC, James Klutse Avedzi, on Monday ordered the arrest of two officials who were picked up by Parliament’s police after they were cited for irregularities at the Sefwi Akontombra Assembly in the Western region.
“Are we documentation examiners? Are we fraud examiners? On what basis did we say the document is compromised,” Mr Afenyo-Markin quizzed.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Afenyo-Markin questioned the PAC’s order for the arrest of two district assembly officials accused of lying to the Committee.
“We shouldn’t set a bad precedent. Under criminal jurisprudence, due process is essential, therefore to me, as a matter of law, if there were issues regarding the testimonies, Avedzi should have filed a complaint or go to the police to file a complaint,” he said.
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To Mr Afenyo-Markin, stressed procedure is of as much importance as substance in corruption fight.
He added that Mr Avedzi could even compromise the committee’s mandate by “overzealously acting in a manner that will abuse people’s rights” because certain conclusions “require proper investigative evaluation.”
Two persons: Isaac Akowaah, a former District Finance Officer of the assembly and James Esilfie, the current District Finance Officer, were accused of conniving to lie to the committee over irregularities cited in their report, hence their arrest.
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