CHRAJ Boss Probe Committee Submits Report To President

The Five-Member Committee set up to investigate the petition against the Commissioner of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms. Lauretta Vivian Lamptey, has completed its work and submitted its report.
The committee on Wednesday, September 30, submitted the report to the Chief Justice in line with Article 146 (4) of the 1992 Constitution.

A statement signed by the Judicial Secretary, Justice Alex B. Poku Acheampong said pursuant to Article 146(5) of the Constitution, the Chief Justice has duly forwarded the report to President John Dramani Mahama.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Justice Anin Yeboah, a Justice of the Supreme Court remarked that the parties cooperated fully with the Committee.

The five-member committee was set up in January this year by the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood to investigate complaints of serious misconduct and breaches of the law Ms Lamptey.

Ms Lamptey had since August 2014, moved into a hotel after the US$5,500 monthly rent for her apartment at the African Union (AU) Village expired.

The daily rate for the hotel was $456.25 being paid in cedis.

Investigations conducted by the Daily Graphic, following concerns raised by some workers of CHRAJ, indicated that Ms Lamptey was awaiting the completion of her official residence,

which is still under renovation, three years after assuming the position.

That meant from July 2011 when she was appointed to July 2014 when her rent at the AU Village expired, a period of 37 months, $203,500 was spent on her rent accommodation, including utilities.

The official residence, which was occupied by the former commissioner, Mr Justice Emile Short, at the time of the report was being redesigned with several variations at her instance, all at a cost of GH¢182,000.

Checks made by the Daily Graphic indicated that CHRAJ was allocated GH¢500,000 annually to cover accommodation expenses for its entire staff, including those on transfer.

However, between January and August last year, the Commissioner alone expended about GH¢120,000, based on a conservative average exchange rate of GH¢3 to $1, on her monthly rent of $5,500.