Anas’ Petition: CHRAJ Will Not Ask Ofori-Atta To Step Aside; It’s For Akufo-Addo To Decide – Emile Short

Former Commissioner at the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative (CHRAJ) Emile Short has said that the Commission will not ask the Finance Minister to stay out of office following the petition filed by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas against him.

He said the decision to stay out of office or not is a matter for the President to decide.

Mr Short said “I don’t know exactly what the issue is, but basically, when CHRAJ receives a complaint it will send to the person against whom the complaint is made and that person has to respond within a specified period, normally ten days. The response will be sent back to the complainant, in this case Anas, for his response.

“CHRAJ will not ask the Finance Minister to stay out of office, that is the matter for the President to determine.”

The petitioner, Anas, raised issue of conflict of interest against the Finance Minister for which he should be investigated.

CHRAJ boss Joseph Whittal told journalists on Monday November 21 that “The allegations are that there is conflict of interest in terms of their official duties as public officers and the companies in which they have interest in terms of government bonds and so the case is going through the standard process of assessment in order to make sure that it meets procedural requirement under the Commission’s regulation as well as whether it is really within the mandate of the Commission. Based on that, we will then decide what next steps to take.”