Take action against Bamba - Parliament urged

The Western Regional Secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Francis Quansah, has called on the Privileges Committee of Parliament to investigate the conduct of the former deputy minister for presidential affairs, Alhaji Moctar Bamba and take the necessary disciplinary action against him.

He argued that Alhaji Bamba?s appointment as a deputy minister of state in President Kufuor?s government was incidental to his being a member of parliament, therefore if he had misconducted himself to the extent he had gone to, then he had disgraced his office as MP and must be punished by Parliament.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ?The Chronicle? newspaper in Takoradi, Quansah said the conduct of Alhaji Bamba and his subsequent resignation from the government should serve as a warning to other office holders of the state.

They should be sensitive to their positions since the whole country was now watching them with eagle eyes, he said and added that no citizen of this country was above the laws governing the land. The septuagenarian regional secretary was however happy that Alhaji Bamba had accepted his misconduct and resigned from the government after rendering apology to the people of Ghana.

Quansah congratulated The Chronicle, especially the reporter, Raymond Archer, for such an in-depth investigative report that led to the exposure of the alleged deals by Alhaji Bamba. ?The Chronicle has demonstrated that it is really an investigative newspaper and deserves to be congratulated by all lovers of democracy?, he noted.

He said such an investigative report that kept the government on its toes was what Ghanaians expected from journalists in the country, not indulgence in insults or accusations against ministers of state that could not be substantiated with facts.

?In fact, if I set eyes on the reporter who came out with reports on the former deputy minister, I will shake hands with him for the job well done because he has really saved this government from disgrace?, he said.

On Tuesday 3 February, The Chronicle started serializing an alleged scandal by Alhaji Moctar Bamba, who was also the MP for Wenchi East, for indulging in corruption, conspiracy to commit fraud, committing fraud, impersonation and abuse of office as a minister of state.

After coming out with the 4th report on the alleged scandal, Alhaji Moctar Bamba, who was also chairman of the Nasara club, was left with no option than to resign, apparently to save himself from further embarrassment. President Kufuor had accepted his resignation but said, that would not prejudice any investigation the police would carry into his alleged deals.