Ghana’s Deputy Minority Leader has officially refunded a sum of GHS 70,000 allocated to her by the Majority Chief Whip, citing deep concerns over the origin of the funds and backing the opposition caucus’s boycotting of recent judicial vetting proceedings.
The decision was communicated through an official memorandum dispatched on September 2, 2026, where the opposition lawmaker distanced herself from the transaction, declaring her total lack of knowledge regarding where the money originated.
“It is with regret that I return the amount of seventy thousand cedis (GHS70,000.00) 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 Deputy Minority Leader stated in a Memo dated September 2, 2026 said.
The controversy surrounds the parliamentary vetting process for three judicial nominees, Justice Sophia Rosetta Oduokuwa Bernasko Essah, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, and Justice Anthony Forson Jnr, an exercise the Minority caucus chose to boycott on principled grounds. The Deputy Minority Leader maintained that accepting any associated funds would undermine the caucus’s ethical stance.
“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,” she stated.
Aligning her stance directly with the Minority Leader, who had previously taken similar action to hand back his portion of the cash, the lawmaker confirmed that the full GHS 70,000 has been directed back to the Majority Chief Whip.
“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,” she wrote.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
