The international press is havng a field day writing on Road Transportation Minister Richard Anane's predicament.
- German Deutsche Presse Agentur has the headline "Pressure grows for minister in corrupt love affair to step down"
- South African "Sapa-dpa" prefers the headline "Ghanaian 'lover MP' may quit"
- ANDnetwork assumes President Kufuor has already made up his mind with the heading "Ghanaian president 'takes action' against graft"
- The Angolan News Agency (AngolaPress) says "Ghana`s transport minister under pressure to quit"
Pressure grows for minister in corrupt love affair to step down
Accra (Deutsche Presse Agentur) - Pressure grew Monday for a government minister to resign amidst charges that he transferred public money to an American woman with whom he became romantically entangled. Road Transportation Minister Richard Anane should quit to spare the public unnecessary confusion about standards of good governance, Ghana's anti-corruption agency, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), said Monday.Anane has already been flayed by a separate body, the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
The GII's call puts President John Agyekum Kufuor into further conflict as he weighs the limited options has has in the embarrassing matter. The group called on Kufuor to take a decisive action in support of the human rights organization's recommendations.
The calls come as the opposition has been looking for every opportunity to punch holes in the government's declaration of zero tolerance for corruption. The GII called for Kufuor's administration to define codes of conduct for politicians and high public officials and provide for anti-corruption training.
"This is an issue we find very important, yet many Ghanaians are not sensitive to it in the discharge of their duties while in public office," GII said.
Anane's predicament was revealed after an 18-month investigation of Anane's relationship with an American woman, Alexandria O'Brien when he was minister of health, and some 100,000 dollars that was transferred to her.
The relationship developed into a love affair and the couple had a son out of the affair.
Kufuor has given the assurance that government would act according to law.
"The president has therefore instructed the Attorney-General to obtain, speedily, the original report of CHRAJ for thorough and critical study in order to advise government on it for appropriate action to be taken in accordance with the law," a statement said.
Kufuor has "always stated, nobody is above the law. He recognizes and respects this principle," the statement said.
