The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) can go ahead to investigate Alhaji Baba Kamara, Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, who was named in the Mabey and Johnson bribery case.
A nine-member panel of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that CHRAJ, in exercising its mandate in investigating acts of corruption
involving public officials, could also investigate private individuals.
It noted that if Kamara’s contention were correct, then it would frustrate CHRAJ’s powers of investigating acts of corruption against public officials.
CHRAJ went to the Supreme Court to seek interpretation as to whether it had the mandate to investigate instances of alleged corruption of private individuals and entities.
It further wanted the Court to determine whether or not the Commission had the mandate to investigate a private individual who was alleged to be involved or implicated in an act of corruption allegedly committed by public officials.
Under Article 218 (e) of the 1992 Constitution, the functions of CHRAJ include investigation of all instances of alleged or suspected corruption and the misappropriation of public money by officials and to take appropriate steps, including reports to the Attorney-General
and the Auditor-General, resulting from such investigations.
Kamara had raised a preliminary objection on the premise that CHRAJ did not have the mandate to investigate him because at the time of the alleged corruption, he was not a public official.
He also said CHRAJ’s mandate to investigate all instances of alleged and suspected corruption under Article 218 of the 1992 Constitution applied to only public officials and not to a non-public person like him.
CHRAJ last year commenced investigations into allegations of corruption against certain persons relating to the operations in Ghana
of M&J, a British engineering firm.
They are Dr. George Sipa Yankey, former Minster for Health, Kwame Peprah, former Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Alhaji Baba
Kamara, Ghana's High Commissioner to Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakar Sadique Boniface, former Minister of Works and Housing in the erstwhile NPP administration, Alhaji Amadu Seidu, former Minister of State at the Office of President Mills, Brigadier-General Lord George Attivor
(rtd), Managing Director of Intercity STC and Dr. Ato Quarshie, former Minister of Roads and Highways.
However, following objections by Kamara, CHRAJ said until the Supreme Court decided on the matter, he would not appear before it.