A former Commissioner of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Emile Short, has expressed worry over the “sinking image” of the Commission under the leadership of Ms Lauretta Lamptey .
Although CHRAJ has a mandate to protect and promote administrative justice to ensure that the government and its officers are accountable and transparent, three years down the line, the Commission is yet to carry out any investigation into the major corruption scandals that have rocked the country.
The current CHRAJ Commissioner, Ms Lauretta Lamptey has also been accused of spending $180,000 on a rent at the AU Village at the expense of the State.
Speaking on the Citi Eye Witness News on Tuesday, Justice Emile Short said “I have had negative reports from within and outside CHRAJ about the state of affairs in CHRAJ. I have been very reluctant to speak publicly about these reports because any comment I make might be misconstrued especially since I was there before.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”CWy7GEMDKb3OuPcf0WrRO59Dzcd46JP8″]He said such disturbing reports portray CHRAJ in a “rather sinking in nature,” hence calling for a drastic measure be adopted by the Commission to redeem its image that has come under public ridicule.
Recently, a financial analyst Sydney Casely-Hayford also described the Commission as “incompetent, for its disinterest” in the supposed misappropriation of funds by the 2014 World Cup Committee.
Among other things, the Commission is supposed to:
- Investigate complaints of maladministration, abuse of power and unfair treatment by public officials;
- Investigate complaints about actions of public institutions, including Ministries, Departments, Agencies [MDAs], where such actions and decisions occasion injustice, unfairness or hardship;
- Investigate complaints of unequal access to recruitment into the public services [MDAs, Police Service, Prisons Service, Armed Forces, etc];
- Take appropriate action to remedy, correct or reverse any action or decision that can be described as maladministration, abuse of office, or unfair treatment, or which undermines sound public administration;
- Educate the public to demand and hold public officials accountable in public administration.
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana