{"id":306560,"date":"2017-03-31T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T06:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=306560"},"modified":"2017-03-31T06:00:04","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T06:00:04","slug":"dont-go-to-court-joe-ghartey-committee-tells-osei-owusu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/dont-go-to-court-joe-ghartey-committee-tells-osei-owusu\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t go to court – Joe Ghartey committee tells Osei-Owusu"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Joe Ghartey committee has warned that the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Joe Osei-Owusu, will undermine\u00a0the dignity of Parliament if he pursues the bribery allegations against him in court.<\/p>\n

The warning formed part of the Committee\u2019s report which found the Bawku Central Member of Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, in contempt<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of Parliament for making the allegations which were said to be without substance.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”HOZleIIV9AZKzlLtdaxkriwXctVKrG0S”]The Committee deemed its investigation into the allegations adequate enough, and thus urged Mr. Osei-Owusu not to take the matter to court to clear his name as he had initially threatened.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter this process by Parliament’s special committee to investigate this matter, we are of the view that to take this matter to court will be to undermine the dignity of Parliament. The courts have not hesitated on their part to say that parliament is a master of its own procedures and arguably its own proceedings.”<\/p>\n

The Committee added that “we therefore resist the temptation into looking into the remits and the complaints and assertions made by the First Deputy Speaker about the matter any further than what has been done above and subject to our recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bawku MP\u00a0alleged that<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Boakye Agyarko, attempted to bribe the 10 minority members on the\u00a0Appointments Committee with GHc 3,000 each to ensure the approval of his nomination as the Energy Minister.<\/p>\n

Mr.\u00a0Ayariga also said Mr. Osei-Owusu served as a courier for the bribe money, which was given to the Minority Chief Whip, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka for onward disbursement.<\/p>\n

Committee\u2019s recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Committee recommended that\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Ayariga\u00a0be\u00a0reprimanded by the Speaker of Parliament in accordance with section 35 of the Parliament Act, 1965 (Act 300).<\/p>\n

\"ministerial-vetting-27<\/p>\n

It further recommended that\u00a0Mr.\u00a0Ayariga renders an unqualified apology to the House of Parliament thereby purging himself of contempt.<\/p>\n

The Joe Ghartey committee arrived at its conclusion because Mr. Ayariga failed to prove that Mr. Agyarko gave money to Mr. Osei-Owusu to be distributed to Members of the Appointments Committee with a view to bribe them.<\/p>\n

\u2018I apologize\u00a0if you say I should\u2019 \u2013 \u2018Defiant\u2019 Ayariga to Speaker\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the\u00a0Bawku Central Constituency, Mahama Ayariga, on Thursday evening, practically rejected recommendations of the five member Joe Ghartey committee that investigated bribery allegations against Members of the Appointments Committee and Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko.<\/p>\n

Mr. Ayariga, who appeared unhappy with the work of the committee, reluctantly rendered the apology<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, saying : \u201cMr. Speaker, if you say I should apologize, I have apologized.\u201d Before this apology, he said the committee\u2019s recommendations were problematic, especially when it failed to conduct due diligence by cross examining the \u201cother sides\u201d to arrive at a fair conclusion.<\/p>\n

This is regardless of the fact that Mr. Ayariga and his other colleagues who made the allegation, failed to provide any hardcore evidence to support their claims.<\/p>\n

He also questioned the powers of the committee to find him guilty of contempt.<\/p>\n

The Speaker is expected to deliver his ruling today\u00a0[Friday], on the recommendations of the committee.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Joe Ghartey committee has warned that the Chairman of the Appointments Committee, Joe Osei-Owusu, will undermine\u00a0the dignity of Parliament if he pursues the bribery allegations against him in court. The warning formed part of the Committee\u2019s report which found the Bawku Central Member of Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, in contempt of Parliament for making the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":286706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,11],"tags":[3531,3,792],"yoast_head":"\nDon't go to court - Joe Ghartey committee tells Osei-Owusu - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. 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