Petition To Impeach CHRAJ Boss Hasn�t Reached Us � Gov�t

Government has said it is yet to receive any petition for the impeachment of Commissioner of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Lauretta Vivian Lamptey. The Nsawam-Adoagyiri Member of Parliament (MP), Frank Annoh-Dompreh, on Tuesday said he had petitioned President John Mahama over Ms. Lamptey�s decision to spend about $180,000 on rent alone with a space of three years. He subsequently told Citi News because the President is not in the country, he presented the petition to officials at the Flagstaff House. In the petition which was cited by citifmonline.com, the MP said the conduct of the CHRAJ boss was unfortunate especially at a time Ghana is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible bail out. He expressed the hope that the President will forward the petition to �the appropriate quarters for an action.� 48 hours on however, a Deputy Communications Minister, Ato Sarpong has told Citi News, the Presidency has not received the said petition. �I�m sure if he submitted it at the Flagstaff House, definitely it will get to the office of the President but as we speak now, the office of the President has not received any such petition and that is what I know,� he said. According to him, since he [Sarpong] heard the news in the media, he personally checked if the petition had been submitted at the Flagstaff House but there petition is nowhere to be found. �I was at the Flagstaff House and it had not been received when I checked and this morning [Thursday], I have checked and it�s not been received yet,� he added. Sarpong was certain that if Annoh-Dompreh followed due process while submitting the petition, it will be cited. �Definitely, there is a process for receiving documentation at the office of the President; it will be stamped, it will be recorded and all of the process will take place,� he explained. The Deputy Communications Minister however clarified that the Presdiency will not call for the resubmission of the petition saying, �I don�t think the Flagstaff House works in response to news bulletins or media stories.� Since assuming office in 2011, the CHRAJ boss is yet to move into her official residence which has still under renovation at cost of GHC 182,000. She confirmed renting an apartment at the AU Village at the cost of $4,500 per month and also confirmed the payment of $456.25 daily at a hotel in Accra where she is currently living with her two children since April 2014. Since the news broke out in the media about a week ago, pressure has been mounting on the President to initiate the process which will lead to her impeachment since Ms Lamptey�s position as CHRAJ Commissioner is equivalent to that of an Appeals Court Judge. The Auditor General is currently carrying out an audit into the finances of the Commission; an exercise which has been endorsed by the government.