Anti-corruption groups want probe into Parliamentary bribery allegations
Three anti-corruption civil groups have called for an independent probe into the bribery allegation made against the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) and members of the Finance Committee of Parliament.
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According to the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), the leadership of Parliament should use this opportunity to holistically address the general perception of the public about parliamentary corruption and the incessant allegations of corruption.
“This revelation, coming on the back of the unsatisfactory handling of Honourable Mahama Ayariga, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central’s bribery allegation presents a further challenge to the already dented image of Parliament and growing eroding trust in politics and the political class in the Fourth Republic,” a statement signed by the leadership of the three groups said.
The signatories to the statement were the Executive Director of GII, Ms Linda Ofori-Kwafo; the Head of Research and Programmes and Deputy Director of CDD-Ghana, Dr Franklin Oduro, and Executive Secretary of GACC, Ms Beauty Emefa Narteh.
According to the statement, the revelations cast a blight on the integrity of Parliament and feeds into widely held suspicions of a corrupt legislature, adding that Parliament should not “sweep the allegations under the carpet.”
Background
It emerged last week that the NLA, the regulator of lotteries and all forms of gambling in the country, and the immediate past members of Parliament's Finance Committee, engaged in a deal considered to be a form of bribery.
According to reports, NLA spent about GH¢150,000 on allowances to members of the Finance Committee in the previous Parliament to facilitate deliberations on the amendment to the National Lottery Act, 2006.
The authority is reported to have used the money to pay allowances to members of the Select Committee on Finance after it organised a workshop for them on amendments to the new Lottery Law, Act 722.
While some of the committee members have confirmed receiving the allowance, others claim they did not receive it.
This is not the first time the issue of a bribery scandal has hit Parliament.
The country’s legislative body has in recent times been caught up in issues of bribery with the most recent one coming from the Bawku Central MP, Mr Mahama Ayariga.
Mr Ayariga had claimed that himself and other MPs on the Appointments Committee of Parliament were bribed to push through the approval of Mr Boakye Agyarko as the Energy Minister.
An internal investigative body, chaired by another Parliamentarian, Mr Joe Ghartey, found that Mr Ayariga was unable to back his allegations with evidence.
Mr Ayariga retracted the allegations and apologised.
Statement
The statement said when Mr Ayariga’s issue came up, they called for an independent probe into the matter but the call was not heeded.