CHRAJ Roars Over M&J Bribery Scandal
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has vowed to resist efforts aimed at blocking its investigations into rulings by a London Court that some officials in the Atta Mills-led Government had received bribes amounting to £470,000 from Mabey & Johnson; a bridge-constructing firm in the UK, so the company could win contracts in Ghana.
CHRAJ has called the bluff of the said officials and threatened to drag them to court if they continue to snub requests from the Commission that they should submit written responses to the bribery allegations leveled against them.
DAILY GUIDE gathered that CHRAJ, in its quest to get to the bottom of the matter, is not finding it easy with the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney-General's Department and has therefore written to the London Serious Fraud Office as well as the UK office of Mabey & Johnson, requesting for further information on the matter.
According to Emile Short, Commissioner of CHRAJ, his outfit had written to the named government officials and given them a two-week ultimatum within which they are to present their written responses to the Commission.
Though the ultimatum ended last Saturday, none of the affected officials had bothered to respond to CHRAJ's request. One of the alleged bribe recipients, Dr. Sipa Yankey, who because of the scandal was recently kicked out of office as Health Minister, was however reported by the Daily Graphic to have alleged that he had submitted his response someway somehow.
The rest of the alleged bribe-takers, including Dr. Ato Quarshie, former Works and Housing Minister; Amadu Seidu, ex-deputy Minister for Roads; Mr. Kwame Peprah, Board Chairman of SSNIT and Edward Lord-Attivor, former Chairman of the Inter-city Transport Corporation and many other NDC big names, have zipped their mouths over the issue.
The corrupt deals were found to have been perpetuated between the years 1994 and 1999 when NDC-founder Jerry John Rawlings was President of Ghana.
Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, wife of Jerry Rawlings; Baba Kamara, current Ghanaian Ambassador to Nigeria and former NDC Chairman, Dr. Obed Asamoah, have all been mentioned in the scandal.
The CHRAJ Commissioner said it would be strange if any of the affected persons denies knowledge of the deadline within which they are to present their responses because the Commission had written to each of them and the letters had reached them.
Mr. Short vowed that with or without the responses from the affected persons, CHRAJ would go ahead with its investigations and employ all legitimate means available.
Mabey & Johnson pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, corruption and violation of UN sanctions when it was dragged before the Southwark Crown Court in London where the company's officials confessed to have paid the said bribe money to the Ghanaian government officials.
The company also agreed to pay reparations to Ghana as well as to the government of Jamaica which it allegedly tried to influence in an attempt to secure public contracts.
Lawyers for Mabey & Johnson told the court that Dr Ato Quarshie was given a cheque for £55,000 in 1995 and Dr Sipa Yankey received a total of £10,500.
One Mohammed Seidu and a certain Edward Attipoe were reported to have received £5,000 and £10,000 respectively.
Mabey & Johnson was said to have paid the monies through some middlemen who acted as lobbyists and one Kwame Ofori has been named as one of the persons who was used as a lobbyist till he was replaced by the then NDC deputy Treasurer, Baba Kamara.
Mabey & Johnson explained that the NDC deputy treasurer was believed to have some influence on top party persons including the then Chairman, Dr. Obed Asamoah and Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.