The Minority in Parliament has demanded the immediate resignation of Controller and Accountant General, Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, following his decision to contest the parliamentary primaries of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Kwaning-Bosompem, who has picked nomination forms to vie for the NPP’s Akim Swedru Constituency seat, faces opposition from the incumbent MP, Kennedy Nyarko Osei.
Expressing their displeasure, Murtala Muhammed, the MP for Tamale Central constituency, highlighted the incompatibility of holding a public office while actively participating in partisan politics.
He urged Kwaning-Bosompem to resign and called for a thorough investigation into the matter, expressing concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
“My expectation was that by now, the Office of the Special Prosecutor would have commenced some investigation into this matter. If indeed he had some delegates in his constituency on a payroll, how was he paying them?
“I think that it ought to be looked at, particularly the critical role he plays as far as the accounting and finances of this country are concerned. The salary of every public officer is managed and controlled by him and the extent to which he ought to distance himself from politics,” he said.
Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor, the MP for South Dayi constituency, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that as the Accountant General, Kwaning-Bosompem should step down if engaging in partisan politics.
He cited constitutional provisions preventing public servants from participating in such activities.
“If the man is failing to do so, I believe the President would have asked him to resign. It simply doesn’t make sense. So I will support the call that he should resign if he wants to contest an election and I would urge the Office of the Special Prosecutor to commence an investigation into this matter.
“You are the Accountant General of the Republic of Ghana, if you decide to engage in partisan politics, then you need to exit from office because the constitution is not saying don’t engage in politics, but it says that if you are a public servant, don’t engage in partisan politics,” he said.
Both MPs stressed the importance of maintaining non-partisan and non-political alignment in public service roles.
They called on Kwaning-Bosompem to voluntarily relinquish his position to uphold the integrity of the office.