Some National Democratic Congress (NDC) Members of Parliament are demanding the immediate resignation of the Controller and Accountant General.
The demand follows a decision by Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem to contest the New Patriotic Party’s Akim Swedru Constituency Parliamentary Primaries.
The government’s chief accountant will be challenging the incumbent MP, Kennedy Nyarko Osei, for the Akim Swedru seat.
However, despite calls for him to step aside after picking the nomination forms, Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem continues to remain in office.
While the NPP MPs are silent about this development, some NDC MPs argue that it is unacceptable for the Controller and Accountant General to still be at post.
Speaking to the media, Murtala Mohammed, the MP for Tamale Central constituency in the Northern Region, emphasized the need for the Controller and Accountant General to resign and also be investigated.
He stated that there have been some wild allegations concerning Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem, hence the need for the Office of the Special Prosecutor to investigate him.
“I expected that by now, the Office of the Special Prosecutor would have commenced some investigation into this matter. If indeed he had some delegates in his constituency on a payroll, how was he paying them?
“I think that it ought to be looked at, particularly the critical role he plays as far as the accounting and finances of this country are concerned. The salary of every public officer is managed and controlled by him and the extent to which he ought to distance himself from politics,” he said.
Mr Mohammed clarified that the Controller and Accountant General may seek to go into politics but stated that “for him to engage in partisan politics and still be holding his office is just incredible because, frankly speaking, I was expecting that even if he wanted to contest, he would have resigned.”
He questioned why Mr. Kwaning-Bosompem has chosen not to resign.
Also read: NPP Primaries: Controller and Accountant General picks forms to contest Akim Swedru seat
“If the man is failing to do so, I believe the President would have asked him to resign. It simply doesn’t make sense. So I will support the call that he should resign if he wants to contest an election and I would urge the Office of the Special Prosecutor to commence investigation into this matter,” the Tamale Central MP said.
On his part, the MP for South Dayi constituency in the Volta Region, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor stated that there is a need to examine the country’s governance structure and revisit the ethos that underpins the constitution and constitutional governance process.
“You are the Accountant General of the Republic of Ghana, if you decide to engage in partisan politics, then you need to exit from office because the the constitution is not saying don’t engage in politics, but it says that if you are a public servant, don’t engage in partisan politics,” he said.
Mr Dafeamekpor further explained that once the Controller and Accountant General decides to engage in partisan politics, then he must leave office for persons who want to be “non-partisan and non-political aligned” to occupy and serve the people.
He also called on all District Chief Executives (DCEs) who are now regarded as public servants and have become parliamentary candidates for the NPP in various constituencies to resign.