ASEPA argued that, such actions undermine ethical investigation processes, violate the rule of law, and infringe on the fundamental human rights of those involved.

The OSP has identified former President John Dramani Mahama as Government Official 1 (GO1) in the Airbus scandal but has cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Additionally, the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, confirmed that Samuel Mahama, the former President’s brother, is Intermediary 5.

In a statement released on Thursday, ASEPA emphasized that the OSP must rise above partisanship and avoid unnecessary politicization of the fight against corruption.

The organization believes that maintaining impartiality is crucial for building public trust and confidence in the OSP’s work.

It added “This is extremely shameful and reprehensible!!”

READ THE FULL STATEMENT FROM ASEPA HERE 

Immediate Release

8th August, 2024

ASEPA RUBBISHES OSP’s EXONERATION OF AIRBUS

The Actions of the OSP in deciding to ascribe names to un-named persons in the Airbus scandal when the American and British investigations decided to out of ethical conduct conceal the identities of such individuals is extremely reckless and tantamount to needless politicization of the investigative process.

Even more so when the OSP’s own investigations confirm no act of wrongdoing on the part of any of those individuals, it is extremely political and of no normative value to name persons who have not committed any crime.

This attempt to smear the former President of an unwarranted corruption tag flies in the face of ethical investigation processes, it undermines rules of law and the fundamental human rights of the persons involved.

The OSP has a responsibility to rise above partisanship and needlessly politicization of the fight against corruption. This is the only way it can instil confidence and public trust in the work of the OSP.

This is extremely shameful and reprehensible!!

Signed
Mensah Thompson
Executive Director, ASEPA

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This comes in response to Kwaning-Bosompem’s decision to participate in the New Patriotic Party’s Akim Swedru Constituency parliamentary primaries.

ASEPA contends that Kwaning-Bosompem’s candidacy violates the Civil Service Act, PNDC Law 327, and has called on President Nana Akufo-Addo to revoke his appointment.

In a letter addressed to the head of the Civil Service Commission, ASEPA argues that the aspirant’s political engagement contradicts the laws governing public service, warranting his dismissal.

The letter from ASEPA to President Akufo-Addo warns, “Based on the above, we hereby serve notice to President Akufo-Addo that the conduct of the Controller and Accountant General constitutes a gross violation of the laws of this land, and as such, he must be removed from office immediately. Failure to do so will compel us to challenge the action in court.”

Calls for Kwaning-Bosompem’s resignation have intensified since news of his political aspirations became public.

Critics cite Article 94(3) of the constitution, which prohibits certain officeholders, including members of the Police Service, Prisons Service, Armed Forces, Judicial Service, Legal Service, Civil Service, and Audit Service, from contesting parliamentary seats.

However, NPP Director of Communication, Richard Ahiagbah, disagrees with this interpretation, asserting that no law prevents Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem from participating in the election scheduled for January 27.

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Below is ASEPA’s full letter.

SACK CONTROLLER AND ACCOUNTANT GENERAL WITHIN 48HOURS OR WE GO TO COURT

ASEPA has been following with keen interest the matter concerning the current Controller and Accountant General who has successfully filed his nomination to contest the Parliamentary Primaries of the New Patriotic Party in the Akim Swedru constituency in the Eastern Region.

Per our last checks as at this morning, the Controller and Accountant General who is a member of the Civil Service as defined under Section 4 of the Civil Service Act, PNDC Law 327 is still at post and has not tendered any official resignation to the President neither have we seen any communique from the Presidency revoking his appointment.

We are of the firm belief that this does not only constitute a grave violation of the laws of this country but also flies in the face of legal precedent and interpretation of the law established by the Supreme Court in the case of Civil and Local Government Service Staff Association (CLOSSAG) V.The Attorney General (2017) in suit number J1/16/2016.

Excerpts of that judgement is attached herein for your perusal.

In that case, the Supreme Court presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Sophia Akufo clearly set out the position of the law on the participation of Civil Servants in Political activities.

For the avoidance of doubt here is the verbatim wording of the decision of the Court in the case of CLOSSAG v.Attorney General;(supra)
ws:-
1. On a true and proper interpretation of the Constitution, a member of the Civil Service or Local Government Service has a right to join any political party of his or her choice, however, such a person does not have the right to participate overtly in political party activities whilst still a member of the Civil Service or Local Government Service.
2. On a true and proper interpretation of the Constitution, a member of the Civil Service or Local Government Service does not have a right to contest for elections for political party office or hold political party office whilst still a member of the
Civil Service or Local Government Service.
3. On a true and proper interpretation of the Constitution, a member of the Civil Service or Local Government Service does not have the right to remain a member
of the Civil Service or Local Government Service after his or her nomination by a political party or otherwise to contest for election as a member of parliament.
Moreover, such a person shall resign from his or her office immediately his or her political activities become overt.
4. The provisions of the Code of Conduct for members of the Civil Service or Local
Government Service, enacted by the Councils of Civil Service or Local Government
Service and any other authority barring a member of the Civil Service or Local
Government Service from engaging in political party activities are not in
contravention of the Constitution and are therefore not unconstitutional.

In greater context the Civil Service Act, PNDC Law 327 defines categorically defines Civil Service to include;
1. office of the President
2. ⁠a Ministry
3. a Government Department at the National level
4. ⁠Any other Civil Service department established under the Authority of the Act, whose emoluments is paid directly from the consolidated fund or other sources approved by Government.

Based on the above, we hereby serve notice to President Akufo-Addo that, the conduct of the Controller and Accountant General constitutes a gross violation of the laws of this land and as such he must be removed from office immediately. Failure of which will push us to challenge the action in Court.

We also serve notice to the Electoral Commission that the conduct of the Controller, having successfully filed his nominations to contest in a Political Party primaries while actively serving in a Civil Service Position is in clear breach of our laws and that therefore undermines his eligibility to contest as a member of Parliament even if he wins the political party primaries and the EC must be ready to reject his nominations as well or face us in Court.

ASEPA accused Rev. Kusi Boateng, who is also the Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral Secretariat, of violating various provisions of the Criminal and Other Offenses Act 1960 (Act 29) specifically Sections 251, 215 and 132.

Rev. Boateng has faced numerous accusations specifically from North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who first brought to the limelight the National Cathedral’s secretary’s double identity and alleged shell companies he had formed.

The complaint by ASEPA to the Criminal Investigations Division of the Ghana Police Service accused Rev. Boateng of crimes including deceiving a public officer, the deceit of a court by personation and defrauding by false pretences.

“We believe that the respondent perpetrated a criminal offence under Section 251 of Act 29 when he obtained two different passports from the State, two different driver’s licenses from the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority, two different tax identification numbers, two different voters ID cards by knowingly providing false and conflicting information to these public officers to obtain these documentations.”

Read the full complaint below: 

ASEPA added supporting documents to the complaint and promised to assist the police in investigating the allegations raised in the criminal complaint.

Instead, it called on the government to put in place measures to strengthen the local currency that had depreciated against the US dollar by 50 per cent this year.

Mensah Thompson, Executive Director of ASEPA, who made the call, said barter trading gold for oil would deplete the country’s forest reserve.

He said this while addressing a news conference on the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the Government, in Accra, on Monday.

The government last week disclosed that it intends to purchase oil from the world market using gold instead of the dollar due to the depreciation of the Cedi against the US dollar.

Official data also shows that Ghana’s gross international reserves have fallen from $9.7 billion at the end of 2021 to around $6.6 billion at the end of September 2022.

Mr Thompson explained that gold was a commodity which had extremely high price volatility on the world market and indicated that should the value of the commodity (gold) decline on the world market, government would require more gold to make the purchase.

“The sad situation about this is that Ghana has an oil refinery which has been abandoned since 2017.”

He added: “The volatility of gold prices set another stage for the fast depletion of the mineral resources the country has if the prices of the commodity fall.”

Mr Mensah Thompson also urged the government to revise the 2.5 per cent VAT rate as maintaining the current rate would worsen the already precarious economic situation of Ghanaians.

He said: “Inflation is currently at 40.4 per cent, Producer Price Index sits at 61.7 per cent, the 2.5 per cent increase in VAT would skyrocket prices even further in such a precarious situation which would fuel inflation to unprecedented levels.

“In response to the skyrocketed inflation in 2023, the Central Bank would automatically increase the Policy Rate to curb inflation, this would worsen cost of borrowing in 2023, people would not be able to borrow due to the high-interest costs, those who would be able to borrow risk falling into a debt trap, NPL sitting on the books of banks would skyrocket leading this country into a recession.”

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He also emphasised the need for the government to cut down on expenditure to avoid incurring more debt.

The government, among other things, froze recruitment, purchasing vehicles and printing calendars to cut down on its expenditure.

He is reportedly being held in connection with his publication that members of the President’s family travelled in the Presidential jet to the United Kingdom (UK) for shopping.

The complaint against him was lodged by the Ghana Armed Forces and he is expected to be arraigned on Thursday 10th February at the Kaneshie District Court.

Mr Thompson reported himself to the police after the complaint lodged against him was brought to his attention.

The anti-corruption campaigner alleged that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, together with his relatives, had used the Presidential aircraft of the Ghana Armed Forces for a shopping trip to the UK in December 2021 between December 20 and 30, 2021.

He later apologised and retracted the publication.

According to ASEPA, it is deeply concerned that government has introduced several new taxes and increased utility tariffs even though it received financial support in 2020, to initiate several measures to fight the pandemic such as procurement of PPEs, sanitisers, food distribution, and utility relief packages such as electricity.

In its petition dated February 7, ASEPA has requested the OSP to find out “whether the World Bank has asked government to refund the support it granted it to implement such reliefs” and “why Ghanaians have been asked to pay back a relief which had been funded by money from the World Bank”.

ASEPA’s actions stem from a revelation by World Bank Country Director, Pierre Frank Laporte, that the World Bank provided the Government of Ghana with $430 million to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

“…and this includes different activities including initially the communication campaign, the sensitization campaign, equipping labs, equipping new facilities to receive patients, and to treat patients,” he said to JoyNews’ George Wiafe on PM Express.

Mr Laporte added that the World Bank further provided an additional $130million purposely for the purchase of vaccines.

In view of this, the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, has noted that there is a “lack of transparency and accountability in the use of the Covid funds.”

In detail, the Public Accountability and Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organisation wants the OSP to “investigate how much the $130million World Bank support for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines was applied; probe how the Covid-19 relief loans under the Obatanpa Program was disbursed by the NBSSI.”

Also, the OSP must “probe the procurement of PPEs for schools and hospitals; and probe the food distribution and utility relief packages such as free water and electricity that was given during the Covid-19 period.”

ASEPA suspects that the procurement of PPEs were not in conformity with the laid down public procurement laws and “there exist widespread allegations of corruption in these procurements.”

Again, ASEPA has requested the OSP to look into the “$1billion given to government by the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and the application of the proceeds from the Heritage funds which government applied in the fight against Covid-19.”

Meanwhile, ASEPA has noted its confidence in the Office of the Special Prosecutor to do a diligent job.

In the letter to the OSP, the group has requested an update on the status of the investigations into the Frontiers Health Services Covid-19 testing contract at the Kotoka International Airport.

“We would be grateful if the OSP provides an update on the status of that investigation,” it stated.

This has to do with the Alliance’s claims that Ghana’s Presidential jet was used by Nana Akufo-Addo’s family for personal activities between December 20 and 30 last year.

ASEPA’s Executive Director, Mensah Thompson, made the claim, saying during the said period, “the children of a close relative of the President took Ghana’s Presidential Jet, the Falcon EX jet, on a trip to the UK just for Christmas shopping.”

“They didn’t go alone; they went with their friends and partied in the sky all through the trip, taking snap videos and flaunting their lucky adventure,” he said.

But, a statement from the GAF has denied the claims.

According to acting Director Public Relations, Commander Andy La-Anyane, “the said publication is untrue, frivolous and without any basis.

“We additionally wish to state that the said aircraft has not been to Europe for a very long time, and this publication is, therefore, a figment of the author’s imagination. However, these allegations can easily be verified since there is always a task order for the movement of all Ghana Air Force platforms.”

The GAF sees this as an attempt to undermine its integrity in public.

In that regard, the Force has also invited the police to investigate the issue to ensure closure.

“In view of the seriousness we attach to such malicious publications, the issue has been referred to the Inspector General of Police for further investigations,” the January 9 statement said.

However, according to the Daily Graphic, the ASEPA boss says he is yet to receive an invitation from the police.

He has since apologised to the Ghana Armed Forces for his comments.

“I unreservedly apologise to the Ghana Armed Forces if their image was in any way affected by my publication,” he wrote on Facebook.

In the Facebook post he made in that regard, he said he had withdrawn “the publication pending an official response from the GCAA.”

Below is his post on Facebook:

The Chief Justice has been in the news lately following allegations by private legal practitioner, Akwasi Afrifa, that he had demanded a $5million bribe to deliver a favourable judgment in a case involving his (Afrifa’s) client.

The CJ has since denied the allegations and asked the Police to probe the matter.

ASEPA, the Civil Society Organisation, which petitioned the President for the CJ’s removal from office, contends that the CJ is unfit to hold office and wants him removed. The pressure group petitioned the Presidency on the matter.

Under Article 146(6) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, the President, upon receipt of such a petition, must act in consultation with the Council of State to appoint a committee consisting two Justices of the Supreme Court and three other persons who are not members of the Council of State, nor Members of Parliament, nor lawyers to inquire into the petition and make a recommendation.

The Supreme Court case of Frank Agyei Twum v Attorney General and Bright Akwetey introduced the additional requirement of a prima facie determination during this consultation. The court speaking through Justice Date-Bah noted as follows:

“The consultation by the President with the Council of State in respect of the appointment of a Committee to inquire into a petition for the removal of the Chief Justice, shall first determine whether the said petition discloses a prima facie case before the Committee is appointed.”

President Akufo-Addo, in a letter dated August 20, 2021, communicated the outcome of his consultation with the Council of State, to ASEPA. The President in the response to ASEPA noted that the petition is not anchored on any allegation made directly or emanating from the petitioner but rather allegations made by Lawyer Afrifa.

The President said this is a reproduction of a third or fourth hand hearsay as basis seeking to trigger serious process of the removal of the CJ.

No evidence, the President argues, is attached to the petition beyond Mr Afrifa’s response and a request by the Judicial Secretary to the Ghana Police Service to investigate the allegations.

The President indicated that these allegations are unsubstantiated. He, therefore, concluded that the petition does not meet the threshold of proffering sufficiently strong evidence in support of the allegations. Neither does it attempt to substantiate any claim of any form. The President concluded thus: “The petition is dismissed accordingly.”

Details of President Akufo-Addo’s response can be found below:

“I think this is quite delightful, just as we expected the President to do. There is nothing unusual about this because the constitution is very clear about what the processes are, and the President is supposed to act as a conveyor belt when he receives such petitions,” he said.

President Akufo-Addo on Tuesday, July 27, set in motion, processes to determine whether or not the Chief Justice should be removed from office.

This follows a petition by ASEPA, demanding the removal of the Chief Justice.

In a letter dated July 12 to the Office of the President, the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, stated that the CJ is unfit to hold office.

According to him, under Article 146(6) of Ghana’s Constitution, the President, upon receipt of such a petition, must act in consultation with the Council of State to appoint a committee consisting of two Justices of the Supreme Court and three other persons who are not members of the Council of State, nor Members of Parliament, nor lawyers, to inquire into the petition and make a recommendation.

Justice Anin-Yeboah is alleged to have demanded a $5million bribe to influence a case pending before the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Akwasi Afrifa, Esq alleged that his former client, Ogyeedom Obranu Kwesi Atta IV informed him that the Chief Justice, “demanded a bribe of USD5,000,000 for a successful outcome of his case and that he had already paid USD500,000 to the Chief Justice.”

The case under reference is OGYEEDOM OBRANU KWESI ATTA IV V GHANA TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY & LANDS COMMISSION.

Meanwhile, Justice Anin-Yeboah has since denied the allegations and asked the Police to probe the matter.

The Alliance wants the execution of this initiative pursuant to Section 212 of the US Immigration and Nationality Act.

ASEPA says the recent threat instigated by the MP against Multimedia Group journalist, Erastus Asare Donkor, for his report on the Ejura protest is frowned upon by the US government as it has always taken an interest in the safety of journalists across the world by imposing sanctions on governments and individuals found culpable of such an act.

It noted that this is not the first of Mr Agyapong’s actions against journalists as he (Kennedy Agyapong) “in 2019, sitting on National TV issued threats against Tiger Eye journalist Ahmed Suale, inciting mob action against the journalist for the role he played in investigative expose dubbed ‘Number 12’ which exposed the huge corruption that had bedeviled football administration in Ghana.”

“A few weeks later, the journalist was assassinated in cold blood, and till date, no one has been arrested,” he said.

ASEPA is, therefore, in its petition, dated July 15, requesting that “the US Government through the Department of State activates the Khashoggi ban against Mr Kennedy Agyapong to retrain him from entering the United States where he has a couple of business interests or any United States territory.”

In addition, ASEPA has prayed that the Khashoggi ban be extended to the Government of Ghana and all its officials until such a time when it resolves the murder of Ahmed Suale, arrest the culprits and prosecute them.

It further added that the “same sanctions should apply to the Parliament of Ghana and its officials if Parliament fails to remove Mr Agyapong as the Chairman of the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament.

“We are counting on the international interest of the US Government in defending human rights and also in the promotion of the safety and well-being of journalists across the World to help protect Journalists in Ghana who are constantly falling victims to the recklessness and viciousness of Mr Agyapong.”

Read full statement below:

Following the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) ban on protest, as ordered by the police, the CSOs have taken it upon themselves to challenge the result of the Techiman South constituency seat on behalf of the party.

The gathering will begin at Circle Obra Spot, after which they march to the EC’s office to present a petition come January 4.

By extension, they are demanding a public collation of the parliamentary results of the 2020 general polls.

The organization, with the aim of promoting transparency in government, said the outstanding seat is the game changer in parliament, and for that they have to ensure it is allocated to its legitimate owner.

Despite the seat being called for the New Patriotic Party’s Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, the CSOs believe there is no evidence of public collation, per constitutional requirement.

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ASEPA and its conjugates are re-demanding a copy of the declaration form, after the EC ignored their initial request, which they believe will bring full closure to the matter.

Failure of the EC to furnish them with the documents, the march – which by their press statement seeks to notify the EC – will hold.

ASEPA argues that the non-disclosure of the assets and liabilities on the part of the judges is a contravention of article 286 of the 1992 Constitution.

That the Supreme Court Judges under-listed have failed to declare their assets and liabilities in accordance with Article 286 and also in breach of the six months grace period given to them under Asset Declaration Act to make a declaration, a statement issued by ASEPA read.

That the complainant, therefore, invokes the jurisdiction of CHRAJ to commence investigations into the allegations of non-disclosure of assets and liabilities against the under-listed Supreme Court Judges, the statement further read.

CHRAJ responding to the calls by ASEPA to investigate the non-disclosure of assets and liabilities by the Supreme Court and High Court Judges noted that the issue is receiving the needed attention and they will in due course inform ASEPA of the decisions taken.

According to ASEPA, the communiqué failed to address the subject matter and the core allegations made against the two respondents satisfactorily.

“The University failed to make a pronouncement on the subject of the expose and the hearing which was “Allegations of Sex for Grades and found these two lecturers guilty only on misconduct contrary to Regulation 15 of the University’s Code of Conduct,” the statement said.

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In a statement signed by the Executive Director, Mensah Thompson, it said: “There seems to be a clear attempt to gag these respondents and to court fear among the academic community going into the 2020 elections, especially in the case of Prof Ransford Gyampo who has been very outspoken and known to be very critical of the Government.”

The statement further said the preferred punishment for breaching such regulations ordinarily does not include withdrawing of the employee’s basic salary or undergoing positive assessment training or annual assessment before resumption of duty.

“The University failed to take into accounts the 4 months period for which the respondents have remained interdicted contrary to the sentencing regime in our Justice delivery system which makes the sentence of 6 months and 4 months suspension without pay unlawful contrary to Section 69(2a) of the Labour Act of Ghana, Act 651,” the statement added.

ASEPA has, therefore, urged the University to allow the sanctions of the lecturers to take retrospective effect, starting from the day they were interdicted and also restore the basic salaries of these lecturers throughout the remaining period of their sanctions.

The report, which assesses the performance of the various Ministries and Ministers on five key performance indicators has also found some key ministeries to be underperforming while giving others very high marks.

For instance, the survey scored the Minister for Regional Reorganization as the best performing Minister in 2019.

The report also placed the Finance Ministry and the Finance Minister as the second-worst performing Ministry and second-worst performing minister respectively.

The report used 10 experts/Policy Analyst and 5000 public respondents sampled purposively across three regions.

Respondents for the survey, according to ASEPA, were sampled from, Civil Societies, the Media, Clergy, Students as well as lower and middle-income groups.

The report also recommended for the immediate scrap of the following: Special Development Initiative; Business Development, Planning; Inner City and Zongo Development; and the Minister of State at the Presidency in Charge of Agriculture.

The report which was signed by the Executive Director of ASEPA, Mensah Thompson, also called for immediate ministerial reshuffle and the merging of some other ministries.