Bribery Scandal: Ayariga Lied Under Oath; Should Apologise To Allah – Lawyer

Legal Practitioner, Yaw Oppong has accused Mahama Ayariga of indulging in perjury by apologising to the speaker in Parliament over the alleged bribery claims he levelled against a Minister and some Members of Parliament.

According to Lawyer Oppong, Mahama Ayariga’s apology only goes to prove the fact that the oath he swore on the Quaran before the Joe Ghartey committee in parliament was a false one and hence he needs to apologise first to Allah.

Mr. Ayariga before speaking to members of the 5-member ad hoc committee set to investigate the bribery allegations swore an oath with the Quaran; which binds him to speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He however apologized per the recommendations in the report, to the Speaker and the entire house in parliament after the report on the alleged bribery allegations was released by the committee.

But Lawyer Oppong speaking on TV3’s NewDay Saturday said that Mr. Ayariga ought to have publicly declared before the house that he had lied before apologising because his apology contradicts the oath he swore earlier before the release of the report and therefore should not be accepted.

“For me, the first entity that Honorable Ayariga should apologise to is his Allah, if you decide to apologise, first he must publicly declare that he did not tell the truth before any apology will be accepted…if he doesn’t declare that he lied, no apology should be acceptable", he said.

He added that the mere taking of an oath by a person is not evidence enough that the person will speak the truth as it is on the issues.