Akufo-Addo’s ‘cash-for-seat’ comment unacceptable – Prempeh

President Akufo-Addo’s comments on the ‘cash for seat’ saga despite it being probed by a parliamentary committee are unacceptable, renowned legal practitioner, Prof. H. Kwesi Prempeh has said.

President Akufo-Addo in his encounter with the media at the Flagstaff House Wednesday described the allegation as flimsy and irresponsible.

“In fact, I think that the position that I have taken potentially…could lend me into a lot of problems which is to say that any allegation that is made against any appointee of mine will be investigated.

“And that opens you up for having to investigate even the flimsiest and irresponsible allegations that are made. …like for instance what is going on in parliament now,” the President said.

But reacting to the president’s comments in an interview with Starr News’ Atiewin Mbillah-Lawson Prof. Prempeh argued that the committee’s work is critical to deepening the country’s democracy.

“….I think that parliament has a role. The parliamentary probe is definitely necessary. Parliament’s job is to oversee the executive including…matters like this,” he stated.

He added, “I don’t think that I would have advised that kind of choice of words. Especially, after he has taken credit for the NPP having done something that the previous administration had never done using parliament [which is] that we have allowed a parliamentary investigation to go on. He cannot say that and then turn around and say it is flimsy.”

Touching on the president’s unbendable conviction that the Trade Minister did nothing wrong in the ‘cash-for-seat’ saga, he said “pronouncing your men and women free of corruption are not always the right thing to do because there are a lot that the President may not know, may not hear and may not see.”

“If you take up on yourself to clear your Ministers of wrong doing it becomes difficult for any citizen to really move forward with any other allegation because the president is always going to support his Ministers.

“So that’s the impression you create that the president is always going to support his Ministers and clear them because if a Minister is seen as corrupt it reflects poorly on the president who chose that person,” he added.