Mpiani: There is only one final Chinery-Hesse Report

Accra, July 23, GNA - Former Chief of Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani said on Thursday that there was only one final Chinery-Hesse Committee Report (CHC), spiking a conclusion of the Ishmael Yamson Committee (IYC) Report that there were two such reports.

"As far as I know, one final CHC Report was submitted to the ex-President in December 2008," he said in a statement released in Accra.

"The Report contains recommendations for both Article 71 (1) and 71 (2) office holders," he said.

Mr Mpiani said the report that the ex-President John Agyekum Kufuor considered and approved the relevant portion, and subsequently caused it to be forwarded to Parliament for the determination of the relevant recommendations was the same report President (John Evans) Mills had in his possession and gave to the IYC to review. The former president directed that a copy of the Chinery-Hesse Committee report o n facilities and privileges be forwarded to Parliament.

"It is the hope of the President that the recommendation will help parliament to determine the facilities and privileges of the persons listed under Article 71(2)"

He said the IYC stated that there was more than one final report in 2008 "therefore it cannot be sure, which report was considered and approved by the ex-President and the last Parliament". However, Mr Mpiani said, a final report would go through several drafts before it was completed.

He also referred to the conclusion of IYC that there were two letters signed by him and concluded that "since one of the letters does not contain the specific clause of Article 71, namely, 71(1), it renders the whole approval by former President Kufuor a nullity". Mr Mpiani said he was informed that upon assumption of power by the current government, the Transition team went and removed all files from his former office.

He also referred to reports that initially, neither the Clerk of Parliament's office nor the Speaker's office could trace the said letter even though the former Speaker stated categorically that he received the letter, while some of the parliamentary leadership also admitted seeing and acting on it.

Mr Mpiani said assuming he signed two versions of the December 30, 2008 letter, the only difference was that one was very specific as to which portion of the CHC recommendation the ex-president accepted, while the other was less specific. He questioned the authority of President Mills to appoint a Committee to review the previously approved report of a similar Presidential Committee on emoluments. 23 July 09