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Mpiani: There is
only one final Chinery-Hesse Report
Accra, July 23,
Ghanadot/GNA – Former Chief of
Staff and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Mr Kwadwo Mpiani
said on Thursday that there was only one final Chinery-Hesse
Committee Report (CHC), spiking a conclusion of the Ishmael
Yamson Committee (IYC) Report that there were two such
reports.
“As far as I know, one final CHC Report was submitted to the
ex-President in December 2008,” he said in a statement
released in Accra.
“The Report contains recommendations for both Article 71 (1)
and 71 (2) office holders,” he said.
Mr Mpiani said the report that the ex-President John Agyekum
Kufuor considered and approved the relevant portion, and
subsequently caused it to be forwarded to Parliament for the
determination of the relevant recommendations was the same
report President (John Evans) Mills had in his possession
and gave to the IYC to review.
The former president directed that a copy of the
Chinery-Hesse Committee report on facilities and privileges
be forwarded to Parliament.
“It is the hope of the President that the recommendation
will help parliament to determine the facilities and
privileges of the persons listed under Article 71(2)".
He said the IYC stated that there was more than one final
report in 2008 “therefore it cannot be sure, which report
was considered and approved by the ex-President and the last
Parliament”.
However, Mr Mpiani said, a final report would go through
several drafts before it was completed.
He also referred to the conclusion of IYC that there were
two letters signed by him and concluded that “since one of
the letters does not contain the specific clause of Article
71, namely, 71(1), it renders the whole approval by former
President Kufuor a nullity”.
Mr Mpiani said he was informed that upon assumption of power
by the current government, the Transition team went and
removed all files from his former office.
He also referred to reports that initially, neither the
Clerk of Parliament’s office nor the Speaker’s office could
trace the said letter even though the former Speaker stated
categorically that he received the letter, while some of the
parliamentary leadership also admitted seeing and acting on
it.
Mr Mpiani said assuming he signed two versions of the
December 30, 2008 letter, the only difference was that one
was very specific as to which portion of the CHC
recommendation the ex-president accepted, while the other
was less specific.
He questioned the authority of President Mills to appoint a
Committee to review the previously approved report of a
similar Presidential Committee on emoluments.
GNA
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