Controller must resign and be investigated over his decision to contest NPP primaries – Minority

The Minority in Parliament has asked Controller and Accountant General, Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, to resign with immediate effect.

The Caucus made the call following the decision by Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem to contest the parliamentary primaries in the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem has picked nomination forms to contest the New Patriotic Party’s Akim Swedru Constituency Parliamentary Primaries.

He is challenging the incumbent MP, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, for the Akim Swedru seat.

The Minority believes it is unacceptable for him to hold office and contest in the primaries.

Speaking to the media, Murtala Muhammed, the MP for Tamale Central constituency in the Northern Region, asked him to resign.

He also underscored the need for him to be investigated.

“My expectation was that by now, the Office of the Special Prosecutor would have commenced some investigation into this matter. If indeed he had some delegates in his constituency on a payroll, how was he paying them?

“I think that it ought to be looked at, particularly the critical role he plays as far as the accounting and finances of this country are concerned. The salary of every public officer is managed and controlled by him and the extent to which he ought to distance himself from politics,” he said.

In his view, Controller and Accountant General may seek to go into politics but stated that “for him to engage in partisan politics and still be holding his office is just incredible because, frankly speaking, I was expecting that even if he wanted to contest, he would have resigned.”

“If the man is failing to do so, I believe the President would have asked him to resign. It simply doesn’t make sense. So I will support the call that he should resign if he wants to contest an election and I would urge the Office of the Special Prosecutor to commence an investigation into this matter,” the Tamale Central MP said.

On his part, the MP for South Dayi constituency in the Volta Region, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor said “You are the Accountant General of the Republic of Ghana, if you decide to engage in partisan politics, then you need to exit from office because the constitution is not saying don’t engage in politics, but it says that if you are a public servant, don’t engage in partisan politics,” he said.

According to him, once the Controller and Accountant General decides to engage in partisan politics, then he must leave office for persons who want to be “non-partisan and non-political aligned” to occupy and serve the people.