After resignation, what next?

THE Mabey and Johnson bribery allegations involving some Ghanaian politicians of both the NDC and the NPP has, no doubt, generated a lot of public concern. Whilst a section of the Ghanaians called for the resignation of current Health Minister, Dr George Adjah-Sipa Yankey and Alhaji Seidu Amadu, another Minister of State, whose names were mentioned in the bribery scandal, others were of the view that others whose names were cited in the case should be dealt with according to the laws of our land.

CONSEQUENTLY, last week Friday, Dr Yankey, Minister of Health and Mr Seidu Amadu, Minister of State at the Presidency, tendered in their resignation letters to the President, Prof John Evans Atta-Mills. Although a statement issued by the Chief of Staff, Mr John Henry Martey Newman, said President Mills regretted the decision of the two gentlemen, TODAY however has a contrary view.

NONETHELESS the paper welcomes the decision by the presidency to charge the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to conduct further investigations into the allegations, although we still are at our wit-end struggling to find out what happened to the investigations conducted by the Attorney-General into the matter in United Kingdom.

THAT notwithstanding, we admonish the fact that the resignation of the two ministers of state would allow unimpeded investigations into the case, and avoid a situation where they could use their positions to influence proceedings of the investigations.

We believe that Dr Yankey and Mr Seidu Amadu did the right thing by resigning. That will offer appropriate platform for the two to clear their names, if indeed; they believe they committed no wrong in the Mabey and Johnson case.

BUT, the question the paper wants to ask is: After resignation, what next? On numerous occasions we have had cases in this country where there has been compelling evidence that public office holders and ministers of state have “chopped” Ghana money, and yet such persons have been left to go unpunished; simply because they did the honourable thing by resigning.

WHAT we at TODAY would want to say is that the matter should not only end with their resignations. Indeed, if after CHRAJ's investigations it emerges that those cited in the Mabey and Johnson case took bribes they must be brought before a competent court of jurisdiction and trialed. In the same vein, if there are some who had nothing to do with the bribery scandal such persons must be allowed to walk free.

AND not until that is done, we have confidence in CHRAJ that it would conduct a thorough investigation into the bribery scandal and lay bare the facts of the matter. As a nation, we need to set good examples for future generations and generations yet unborn to follow. The practice where public office holders and ministers in this country use their offices to amass millions and billions of wealth does no good to our efforts to reach middle-income status.

OUR politicians must be told in plain language that politics is not a platform for them to enrich themselves and misappropriate state resources. Therefore, those who use their political influence to make money should be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others who have decided to use politics to rob poor Ghana. For now, TODAY is keenly watching how events unfold in the Mabey and Johnson case.