Monday 10th March , 2014 12:59 pm
Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu is asking the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nadowli/Kaleo, Alban Bagbin to provide evidence for his bribery allegations against some legislators.
Mr. Bagbin over the weekend alleged that there was evidence to show that some MPs take bribes to push the agenda of civil society groups and governments.
According to him, the practice had persisted due to the lack of laid-down rules and ethics for lobbying in the country.
The Minority leader has however admonished Mr. Bagbin to provide evidence to back his allegations or withdraw his statement.
He told Citi News, Mr Bagbin “should come with better and further particulars about what he knows that some of us don’t know” adding that if the allegations are true, some interrogations have to be conducted into the matter to ascertain the truth.
Mr. Kyei Mensah Bonsu was however served notice that “if what he said cannot be substantiated, then certainly, we will have to put him to the task of reversing what he is alleged to have said.”
The Suame MP clarified that Parliament has the options of summoning Mr. Bagbin before the Privileges Committee of Parliament of setting up a committee “to hear him.”
He also mentioned that the rules governing the conduct of MPs will be applied if Mr. Bagbin is found to have damaged the image of Ghana’s Legislature.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) has expressed fears that the Mr. Bagbin’s allegations of corruption against Parliament will be shelved like other corruption cases in the past.
The GII is of the opinion that Parliament will protect their own saying, “every organization tries to protect his own so it is not likely that Bagbin will go beyond what he has said.”
Speaking to Citi News, the Executive Director of GII, Vitus Azeem advised Ghanaians to stand up and make sure allegations are critically investigated.
According to him, the latest corruption allegation is an indication that “our law makers engage in activities and practices that are against the laws that the make.”
He charged civil society groups, media practitioners “should now put pressure on them [Legislators] to stop that.”
Mr. Azeem however acknowledge that some civil society groups and individuals “offer them some of these bribes and so we also need to undertake an awareness creation exercise to get people to begin to realize that these things are wrong.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana