Advocacy group to drag Mills, Council of State to court over CHRAJ boss

The Center for National Affairs which has mounted pressure on the Commissioner for Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice(CHRAJ), Ms Lauretta Lamptey, to resign her position as a member of the Ghana Commercial Bank's (GCB) board has said that it will be compelled to drag President Atta Mills and his Council of State to court to seek redress on the issue.

Rocky Obeng, Senior Policy Analyst of the advocacy group, on Monday gave the CHRAJ Commissioner a twenty-four hour ultimatum to quit her membership position on the GCB board or face a legal tussle.

Ms Lamptey holds two positions, contrary to Article 222 of the 1992 Constitution which prohibits a commissioner of CHRAJ from occupying any other public office.

However, the Commissioner says she sees nothing wrong with her holding the two positions.

She told Joy FM in an interview that despite being a board member of GCB, her focus, and priority is on her duty as a commissioner, adding that she has relinquished some duties she performs as a board member.

As the ultimatum elapsed on Tuesday, the advocacy group have stepped up their actions by declaring that it will on Wednesday drag those who appointed Ms Lamptey; the President and the Council of State to court to ensure that Ms Lauretta Lamptey does the right thing by resigning her membership position from GCB board.

According to the advocacy group, Ms Lamptey's resignation as a member of the GCB will not only ensure independence of the commission but will make it more attractive and win back the confidence people hold in the commission.

The group maintained that they were not contesting the competence of Ms Lamptey to handle both port folio, but it is seeking to correct an infringement of the constitution.

However, the President of the Greater Accra, Ghana Bar Association, Frank Davies has said that the current dual role held by the Commissioner of CHRAJ must be subjected to thorough interpretation.

He said that it has to be assessed whether or not being a member of the GCB board constitutes a public office as GCB is not an entirely publicly owned company and her emoluments is not paid from the public funds.

He however maintains that Ms Lamptey's case is not a straight forward one and must be critically assessed as to what really constitutes a public office.

Ms Lauretta Lamptey was sworn in as Commissioner barely a year ago to replace Anna Bossman who resigned voluntarily. Ms Lamptey is an investment banker and a specialist in African capital markets and corporate finance.