Second Deputy Minority Whip Jerry Ahmed Shaib has dismissed reports that Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei returned a GH¢70,000 “gift” allegedly given to members of Parliament’s Appointments Committee in connection with the vetting of ministerial and Supreme Court nominees.

Mr Shaib said there was “no truth whatsoever” in the claims and urged the public to disregard the information circulating in relation to the purported memorandum attributed to Mrs Appiagyei.

Speaking to TV3 on Friday, September 4, he said he had spoken directly with the Deputy Minority Leader, who was upset by the reports and did not understand their basis.

“There is no truth whatsoever in that story. I have spoken particularly to my Deputy Minority Leader who has been very upset with the seeming whatever is going round. She doesn’t even understand it and she is very upset,” he said.

Mr Shaib urged the public to be cautious about the information being circulated.

“She thinks that we should be careful how some of these things are generated,” he added.

Read Also: Deputy Minority Leader claims she rejected GH¢70k gift allegedly linked to vetting of Ayariga, Zanetor and SC judges

‘She had not received any money’

The Weija-Gbawe MP further insisted that neither he nor Mrs Appiagyei had received money to influence the vetting of ministerial nominees.

“So, I can tell you on authority that I have not dealt with anyone, she has not dealt with anyone, I do not know who is dealing with this and where this is coming from.”

He added:

“She had not received any money from anyone and she does not know where this is coming from with a certain signature of hers.”

His comments come after reports that members of the Appointments Committee had allegedly received GH¢70,000 each as a gift.

Purported memo attributed to Appiagyei

The reports were based on a purported memorandum dated September 2 and addressed to Minority Chief Whip and Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP Frank Annoh-Dompreh, with Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin copied.

In the document, Mrs Appiagyei was reported to have directed that GH¢70,000 allegedly sent to her by the Majority Chief Whip be returned.

“It is with regret that I return the amount of seventy thousand cedis (GH¢70,000.00) allocated to me as an advance of money from the Majority Chief Whip of Parliament of Ghana. I am returning the money on the basis of the fact that, primarily, I do not know the source of the money being given to me,” the purported memo stated.

The document further attributed to Mrs Appiagyei a decision not to receive any financial benefit connected to the vetting of Majority Leader Mahama Ayariga and Deputy Majority Leader Zanetor Agyemang-Rawlings.

“My first reason is the fact that I do not want to enjoy any financial benefit under any circumstances to vet our own colleagues in leadership from the other side being either Hon. Mahama Ayariga or Hon. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings,” it stated.

The purported memo also linked her decision to the Minority Caucus’ objection to the vetting of three Supreme Court nominees.

The nominees are Justice Sophia Rosetta Oduokuwa Bernasko Essah, Justice Edward Amoako Asante and Justice Anthony Forson Jnr.

According to the document, Mrs Appiagyei said she found it “totally unthinkable” to accept any gift from the judges following the Minority’s decision not to participate in their vetting.

“Secondly, due to the Minority's protest and non-participation of the vetting of the three Judges namely; Justice Sophia Rosetta Oduokuwa Bernasko Essah, Justice Edward Amoako Asante and Justice Anthony Forson Jnr, on a matter of principle, I consider it totally unthinkable that I should enjoy any gift presented by any of the above judges. It is also not my intention to extort any money from any of the above judges,” the document stated.

The purported memo concluded that the GH¢70,000 should be returned to the Majority Chief Whip, while noting that Mr Afenyo-Markin had also returned his share.

“In lieu of the above, and also in support of the Minority Leader's decision to return his share of the amount sent to him in that respect, I humbly return the amount of seventy thousand cedis (GHS70,000.00) to be sent back to the Chief Whip of the Majority Caucus in Parliament bringing to his attention my reasons for doing so,” it stated.

Background to the dispute

The development comes against the backdrop of the Minority Caucus’ decision to withdraw from the vetting of the three Supreme Court nominees on August 27.

The Minority had objected to the procedure adopted by the Appointments Committee, particularly the short notice given for the exercise.

Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that the procedure was inconsistent with established parliamentary practice.

“The procedure that has been adopted is at variance with the orders of the House. How can you ask us to vet Supreme Court judges with three days' notice?” he said.

He maintained that the standard practice was to provide longer notice and advertise the exercise.

“The standard practice is to give fourteen days' notice, advertise in the newspapers before the vetting is done,” he said.

He subsequently clarified that the Minority’s objection was to the procedure rather than the nominees themselves.

“To the nominees, we are not against your nomination; we are against the procedure, and we cannot be part of this,” Mr Afenyo-Markin said before leading the Minority members out of the proceedings.

Mr Shaib’s denial now puts the reported GH¢70,000 payment and the purported memorandum at the centre of a dispute over the authenticity and source of the information circulating about the Appointments Committee.