One of the leading members of policy think tank, OccupyGhana, has vouchsafed that they will be petitioning Cabinet every Monday until it approves the 2022 Conduct of Public Officers Bill.
Ace Annan Ankomah said this is to pressure Cabinet to deal with the Bill expeditiously and submit same to Parliament for onward passage into law.
The renowned private legal practitioner, thus, asked Ghanaians to add their voices to the conversation.
Speaking on JoySMS, he told the host, Kojo Yankson that the passage of the Bill is the first major step in dealing with the corruption canker in the country.
“Every Ghanaian ought to apply immense pressure on Cabinet to approve this Bill as soon as possible and send it to Parliament, so it passes it before it rises for its long vacation. And one of the things we are going to do is that every Monday, we will remind Cabinet that we are waiting for the approval.
“We will do so every Monday until it approves it. We will send a letter to Cabinet saying Ghanaians are waiting for them to approve the 2022 Conduct of Public Officers Bill, so it goes to Parliament.”
What has ignited the conversation?
The issue came forward after Ghanaians accused some government officials of attempting to illegally acquire lands at the Achimota Forest Reserve.
The outcry was a result of President Akufo-Addo signing an Executive Instrument to declassify the Achimota Forest.
The Instrument gazetted on behalf of President Akufo-Addo by the Lands Minister, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, stipulated that effective May 1, 2022, the land on which the Forest is located shall cease to be a forest reserve, pursuant to Section 19 of the Forest Act, 1927 (CAP. 157).
However, even before the dust settled, another jaw-dropping discovery was unearthed in the will of the late Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie.
In the 12-page document, it emerged that the politician owned some parcels of land in the Forest Reserve, which he has passed on to inheritors forever.