Double salary saga: 3 more former ministers meet CID
Three more former ministers of the erstwhile Mahama administration are expected to be quizzed by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service in connection with allegations that they were paid double salaries while in government.
Three others on Tuesday appeared before the CID; bringing to six the number of former ministers who have been interrogated by the police on suspicion of collecting double salaries.
Last Monday, three former ministers were questioned by the CID in respect of similar allegations but their names were not given by the police.
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Those who were quizzed on Tuesday were Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central and former Minister of Roads and Highways; Ms Comfort Doyoe Cudjoe Ghansah, the MP for Ada who also served as Minister of State at the Presidency in charge of Social and Allied Institutions, and Mr Eric Opoku, a former Brong Ahafo Regional Minister.
The three, who are said to have denied any culpability, were discharged but asked to report back at the CID on May 14, 2018.
Charge of stealing
Alhaji Fuseini confirmed that he had been charged with the offence of stealing but he said he denied same.
Alhaji Fuseini, who spoke on Asempa FM, said he denied the accusation because he had “not stolen anyone’s money”.
Ms Cudjoe, in an interview with Citi News, said, “It is never true and cannot be true. Whoever has been a minister before......you have something from the Executive to collect and you have something as an MP…. Currently, there are ministers who are getting those,” she claimed.
“I am not a thief. I worked for the state and the state gave me what I deserve. They had good people; accountants and auditors there. If I owe the state, they will write first to me to inform us that we owe them. They shouldn’t target us because we are NDC,” she added.
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Double salaries
It has emerged that some MPs who served as ministers in the erstwhile NDC administration allegedly received double salaries.
The police said the alleged action by the MPs “is contrary to Section 124 (1) of the Criminal and other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29), as amended in 2012, Act 849. Section 124 relates to the offence of stealing”.
Media reports showed that a good number of the ministers who served under former President John Mahama took double salaries for four years, while others received double salaries for two and three years, probably because they were reshuffled.
In 2012, four of the ministers took double salaries and are currently not serving in Parliament, but by 2013 the double -salaried appointees had increased to 22, while in 2014 about 18 were said to be involved.
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Appointees
In 2015 and 2016, 15 and 12 appointees took double salaries, respectively.
From 2012 to 2016 when the NDC was in office, some of the appointees were captured in all the data collated as having received double salaries.
The list showed that the appointees received double salaries at least once a month, while others received them monthly throughout the years.
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Initially, 25 NDC MPs were said to have been invited by the CID, but the Minority in Parliament held a press conference last Tuesday, April 10, 2018 to debunk the allegation.