President John Evans Atta-Mills has accepted the resignation of two Ministers of State, Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey, Minister of Health and Mr Seidu Amadu, Minister of State at the Presidency, following the bribery allegations in the Mabey and Johnson case.

This follows lengthy closed door discussions held over the last two days with the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, the Chief of Staff, Mr John Henry Martey Newman, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu as well as other close aides of the President.

A statement issued on Friday by the Chief of Staff said the President had also decided to invite an independent body, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), to conduct investigations into those allegations of bribery against Ghanaian public officials in the said case.

The statement said the President expressed regret at the resignations and was hopeful that the decision to ask CHRAJ to investigate the case would offer a platform for the public officials named in the case to clear their names and reputations.

It would be recalled that on September 25, this year, a London court convicted officials of Mabey and Johnson for paying bribes to Ghanaian government officials for the award of road contracts in Ghana in the 1990s.

The Ghanaian officials mentioned in the case included Dr Yankey, who was a director at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and Alhaji Amadu, who was also a Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways at the time of the alleged bribery.

Following the judgement, the President directed the Attorney General to obtain details of the case for further action.

Mrs Mould-Iddrisu went to London on October 5, 2009 and held discussions with top directors and high ranking officials of UK’s Serious Fraud Office to build data for a thorough investigation into the case.  She returned last Wednesday night.

Source: Daily Guide

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