Call it the over-zealousness of a public official, or the desire of a Minister of State to see to it that the right thing is done in his ministry and you may be forgiven for assuming wrongly.
Whether the Deputy Minister for Lands and Forestry, Thomas Broni, set out with good intentions to ensure positive change in his Ministerial corner or not now raises a lot of questions regarding the much routed zero tolerance for corruption.
Although not a member of the Board of Forestry Planning Development Fund, Broni elected himself as one and made sure that he was always present at the Board’s meetings. This was in spite of the fact that the ministry’s representative, Sampson Agyei, Chief Director of the ministry, was always present.
Broni carried his unofficial act too far when he partook in the casting of votes on issues and collection of board allowances. Unable to contain the illegality of Broni any longer, the Chairman of the Board, Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II wrote to him expressing the Board’s displeasure with his continued attendance of meetings.
The letter read in part: “I assume you have invited yourself to meetings of the board as a representative of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry. If this assumption is right, I would like you to know that the ministry is already represented by its Chief Director, Sampson Agyei,
With immediate effect, I would like you to cease attending meetings and voting on issues and also collecting board allowances.”
The Okyenhene, who is noted for his forthrightness and his personal campaign against indiscipline in the Lands and Forestry sector, cited legal basis for his action by referring the Deputy Minister to the law.
He said: “By your conduct, you are in breach of Act 583, (12) Section 7 and I would like you to note that it is more honourable for a board to invite you on specific matters over which we seek your input and advice just as we would, the substantive minister, than you inviting yourself to our meetings.”
Why the deputy minister consciously signed for and collected board allowances when he knew he was not entitled to them could not be ascertained by The Evening News as Broni could not be reached for his side of the story.
Mr Broni, who has been in the news this week for acts considered by some section of the public as officially indiscreet on his part, is yet to prove whether he returned the allowances collected by him before he was given the “boot” by the Okyenhene.
The sector minister, Prof Kassim Kasanga, whom the Okyenhene reported the conduct of Broni to by way of a copy of the letter, could not be reached for his reaction, as he was at a conference.
