Alan K is cleared by CHRAJ!

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice Friday settled a test case in which a whistleblower, whose own cover was blown, Kwesi Arthur, had raised an issue of alleged financial impropriety against Alan Kyerematen and AS Bekoe, a civil servant.

After its preliminary investigation, CHRAJ has cleared Messrs Kyerematen and Bekoe of all the seven allegations leveled against them.

The findings have been hailed as timely, (See Editorial) with the opening of nominations for the governing party's presidential candidate contest taking place next month.

Alan had said in April, at the onset of the case, that "Fortunately, all the issues raised in the allegations refer to transactions that are evidenced in the form of documents which are subject to full disclosure.”

In a press conference that the Attorney-General plans to hold today, the general public is expected to be shown the evidence before CRAJ and how and why the anti-corruption body came to the decision that the two men have no case to answer.

Alan Kyerematen, former Minister for Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and Presidential Special Initiative, is among the key contenders for the NPP flagbearership while Kwesi Arthur, the whistleblower, is a former Treasurer of the Greater Accra Regional branch of the NPP and a former board member of the Export Development and Investment Fund.

Mr Arthur had petitioned the Commission under the Whistleblowers Act, which is meant to protect the identity of informants. But, press reports on the matter before CHRAJ freely mentioned the name of the complainant, who also went as far as to grant reporters interviews on the allegations.

The Attorney-General has described the disclosure of the complainant"s identity as "unfortunate." This was the first known case brought before CHRAJ under the Whistleblowers Act.

The issue led to some intra-party fracas in the ruling NPP, with Mr Kyerematen and his followers attributing it to what they considered to be the machinations of some of the other NPP aspiring presidential candidates.

Party loyalists have therefore described CHRAJ’s ruling, and the subsequent exoneration of Mr Kyerematen, as a welcome development. The complainant, among other things, alleged that EDIF had paid an amount of ¢32bn to the Trade Ministry at the request of a director at the Ministry, Mr Bekoe. Mr Bekoe had signed for the former Minister for the disbursement of the amount to five companies for the refurbishment of the former GNTC offices at Adjabeng in Accra. Mr Arthur had claimed that the payment was improper and in contravention of the law that established EDIF, alleging further that the sum involved was "free" money paid by Messrs Kyerematen and Bekoe.

The other allegations by the complainant involved what he considered unlawful actions by the former Minister in respect of the management of the Fund, conflict of interest, improper rental of office premises, the questionable appointment of K M Nkrumah as a Director of Credit and Acting Chief Executive of EDIF, the reconstitution of the first Board of Directors by the former Trade Minister and credit facilities approved through EMPRETEC Ghana Foundation as a guaranteed financial institution.

But, according to the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Joe Ghartey, the allegation of financial malfeasance against the Mr Kyerematen was dismissed by CHRAJ on the basis that it was rather the first board of the Fund that ought to take responsibility, if any, because it had the mandate to manage the fund, and not Messrs Kyerematen and Bekoe who were public officials. Mr Ghartey, who is expected to address the press this morning on the issue and others, relating to the development of the Whistle Blower’s Act, told The Statesman at the weekend that the President reconstituted the EDIF board, and not Mr Kyerematen, just as the appointment of Mr Nkrumah was done by the President.