GACC: Sacked CHRAJ boss must refund embezzled funds

The Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC) has lauded the judicial committee, which recommended the dismissal of Ms Lauretta Lamptey as Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).

The Coalition, however, says the Government must take immediate steps to recover the funds Ms Lamptey misapplied while in office.

Executive Secretary Linda Ofori-Kwafo told Joy News Thursday that the Government must also make full disclosure on the probe. The Coalition has also called for proper structures to be instituted to prevent any such corrupt practice in the future.

“In every anti-corruption fight, or [in] her case, which borders on abuse of office, or conflict of interest, [or] monies that have been lost, or misapplied, or misappropriated, we normally recommend that the monies, if can be retrieved, should be retrieved for use in other areas, so far as our nation is concerned,” she said.

“Are we going to put in place measures to ensure that going forward such acts that she engaged in that the judiciary filed a prima facie case against would not happen again?” she asked.

Ms Lamptey was found culpable of “acts of serious misconduct, inappropriate exercise of office, serious misjudgement and breach of laws and public trust.”

She paid about $5,000 as monthly rent on her plush AU Village residence for over two years and also spent over $180,000 to renovate her official bungalow.

Leader of the Progressive Nationalists Forum (PNF), Richard Nyamah, who first filed the petition for the dismissal of Ms Lamptey said the result should encourage Ghanaians to fight corruption by dragging corrupt officials to court to face the law.

“I hope that the other anti-corruption institutions and crusaders will be highly motivated to pursue the fight vigorously, because if we are going to rely on the government and government institutions to bring an end to corruption, it will never happen because they are also beneficiaries of this act. I call on all and sundry to take a cue from this that the best way to fight corruption is through the law courts,” he said.