Affairs of the Appointments Committee of Parliament

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has taken note of a document circulating in the media being a purported memorandum attributed to Hon. Patricia Appiagyei, the Member of Parliament for Asokwa and Deputy Minority Leader and addressed to Hon. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Member of Parliament for Nsawam/Adoagyiri and Minority Chief Whip – in which it is alleged that Hon. Patricia Appiagyei returned an amount of GH¢70,000 allocated to her as an advance of money from the Majority Chief Whip in relation to the vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament of two nominees for ministerial positions and three nominees to the Supreme Court.

 

Given the constitutional importance of the Appointments Committee of Parliament and the need to safeguard the integrity of the vetting process, and taking into consideration the content of the document to the effect that Hon. Patricia Appiagyei purportedly cast doubt on the source of the alleged funds and that it had the hallmarks of extortion of the nominees, the OSP has commenced preliminary investigation into the veracity of the document, the source of the alleged funds, and the purpose of the alleged funds. 

 

To this effect, the OSP has dispatched a communication inviting Hon. Patricia Appiagyei to attend the OSP and assist it with the preliminary investigation.

 

The OSP is actively investigating all extortion allegations involving Members of Parliament.