Mills Dragged To CHRAJ!

The Coalition for Democratic Forces (CDF) has hauled President Mills before the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to answer charges relating to corruption! In a press statement issued and signed by Mr. Michael Omari-Wadie, the CDF considered aspects of the statements allegedly made by a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Kwame Pianim recently as �worrying�. �At a recent forum organized by a local radio station, Joy FM, on building consensus on a national development agenda, one of the main speakers and an Economic Consultant, Kwame Pianim made statements on the incorruptibility of Ghana�s sitting President, John Evans Atta Mills. However, there are certain aspects of the statement we consider worrying and we believe must catch the attention of anti-corruption institutions,� the release said. Quoting part of the statement allegedly made by Mr. Pianim to buttress its point, the CDF�s statement said. �If A Country Is Corrupt, Then Its Leaders Is Also Corrupt. Now I Believe That We Have A President Who Will Not Steal From The People. A President That I Can Put My hand In The Fire For, Because Two Time�s I Have Witnessed Him Return Two Brown Envelopes That Were Presented To Him - Something I Did Not See Under John The First And John The Second.� It said that Ghana�s Criminal Code, Act 29, 1960, says that bribery is a crime for the giver as well as the receiver. It is also a crime not to report such activities to the police or to the security agencies. �therefore if we are to go by the words of Mr. Pianim, then it will amount to criminality on the part of Mr. Pianim, President J.E.A Mills and the bribe givers. �Mr. Pianim also tells us that President Mills merely rejected the envelopes, but does not say whether the incidence was reported to the security agencies for proper investigation. Indeed, our checks have revealed that no formal complaint has come as yet from the Presidency on the said bribe-givers. This baffles us to the extent that His Excellency President Mills is Law Professor and should have been the first to report this to the security agencies since he knows better than the ordinary person,� the release said. �In view of the fact that then Candidate Mills and the National Democratic Congress campaigned vigorously on the platform of fighting and reducing corruption to the barest minimum, such gross inaction and lukewarm attitude to bring corrupt people to book cannot and should not be tolerated. �Monitoring the airwaves since this news broke out; it is clear that Ghanaians are eager to know the truth of this matter since it borders on the integrity of the President of the Republic of Ghana and his willingness to really fight corruption. �We are therefore petitioning to your good office, to actually investigate this matter, since such a statement about a sitting President can fuel public perception of him encouraging corruption and not exposing those perceived to be corrupt to the security agencies,� the statement added.